


Book 13 - Revelations

by GailDunn2



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Drama, F/M, References to Supernatural (TV), Series, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-30 21:20:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 93,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21434863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GailDunn2/pseuds/GailDunn2
Summary: Lucifer begins to establish himself on Earth. The humans and designated Angels use various strategies to find him. And he'll let them, when he's ready. The world is his playground, and Lucifer has only begun to play the game.
Kudos: 1





	1. Guns and Roses

Castiel and Gail were sitting on a bench in the Secret Garden, hand in hand, enjoying the serenity of the place. 

When the gates had opened, they had been the only ones to enter, and they were still there alone. They had already walked around to all of the cages to look at the big cats, and when they had gotten to the white tigers, Cas had paused. The two tigers had approached the front of the cage and rubbed the bars with their faces, and Cas had poked his fingers through the bars and stroked their fur, speaking softly to them. Gail heard the low rumble of their purring, and she smiled. "Females, obviously," she quipped. 

Cas smiled back at her, continuing to pet the cats. "They're beautiful animals," he remarked with admiration. 

Gail agreed. But it was funny how something could be so beautiful and yet so potentially deadly at the same time, she thought. 

Cas turned to her and took her hand. "Let's sit for a while," he said. 

So they sat on the bench, enjoying the serenity of the morning and the cool breeze that was wafting through the Garden. Neither of them spoke, not wanting to disturb the peace and quiet. 

Gail was wishing that things could be like this all the time. Her and Cas, holding hands, just happy to be with each other. It didn't matter to her where they were, or what they were doing, as long as they were together. She turned her head to look at his face. She had looked at that face so many times in the past couple of years, and she would never grow tired of it. Looking at him calmed her. He was as solid as a rock. Always there for her, loving and protecting her. 

Cas felt Gail's eyes on him, and he turned to look at her. "What?" he asked her softly. 

"Nothing," she said, smiling. "Just thinking about how much I love you." 

His face broke into a grin. It was so wonderful to hear her say that. When he had been a Demon, he had forced those words out of her, seeking constant reassurance. But he didn't need that from her any longer. He knew she loved him; she had proved it to him, time and time again, ever since the day they had first met. 

"I will never be able to find the right words to tell you how much I love you," Castiel said to her, squeezing her hand gently. "There aren't enough superlatives in the dictionary." 

Gail moved closer to him, and he put his arms around her. He kissed her on the mouth, and after a moment, he opened her lips with his tongue. Gail gave him hers, and Cas sighed contentedly. He could just sit here and do this forever. 

Gail broke the kiss. "I don't know if we should be doing this in front of the cats," she teased him gently. "They might get jealous. I think your tigers are looking at us." 

"Let them look," Cas said, and he kissed her again. His arms tightened around her as the kiss deepened. 

"Pardon me." A man's voice, sounding amused. 

The couple parted immediately, and Cas's hand went to his pocket, taking out the blade. He rose from the bench, facing the stranger. 

The man was frowning now, and he took a couple of steps back, holding up his hands in supplication. "Easy, there," he said to Cas. "I'm not looking for trouble. I just saw the two of you here, enjoying my Garden, and I thought I would say hello. I'm Hermann. My partner and I had this Garden built here in the middle of the Strip so that people would have a quiet place to go in the midst of all the madness." 

Cas lowered his blade, but he didn't put it away. This man didn't seem like Lucifer, but he could very well be. 

"It is very serene," Gail said from behind Cas. "Thanks for building it. It's our favourite place to come to here." She had remained seated, and she was studying the man's face. She couldn't feel anything sinister coming from this man, but she'd also heard that Lucifer was a master of disguise, and she had also heard that he could be very charming when he wanted to be. 

"I didn't mean to disturb your...peace," he said, his lips twitching. Hermann had been observing the couple for a while, and he had been delighted to see the way that the white tigers had reacted to Cas. It reminded Hermann of himself and his partner. They had made it their mission in life to raise money to help protect these beautiful animals. This couple obviously appreciated the creatures, too. And they had certainly been appreciating each other when he had approached them, he thought, smiling inwardly. Hermann didn't have a problem with that. He and his partner often came here when the place was closed to the public, to feed the cats and shower their affection on them. And there may have been a time or three when they had sat on this very same bench afterwards, kissing and canoodling. Love was one of God's most special gifts, in Hermann's opinion, and he had enjoyed watching this couple expressing it. 

He eyed the blade in Castiel's hand warily, though. This man's reaction to his greeting had been very strange. He had not said or done anything to threaten them in any way. The man was obviously very protective of the woman. But, why? Then Hermann remembered. This was the woman who had won that huge jackpot yesterday. As a co-owner of the hotel, Hermann had signed off on the publication of her photo for their website. He also knew that she had been attacked later on in the day. She had fortunately been unharmed, but her husband had had to intervene on her behalf. That explained what was happening now. 

"I'm not here to steal your money," Hermann told them, smiling. "That's my money you won." He introduced himself to them, offering his hand to Cas to shake. "I'm glad you were there to protect your wife," he told Cas. "I would have felt terrible if anything had happened to her." 

Cas regarded the man's hand for a moment. Perhaps he was who he said he was. If he was Lucifer, wouldn't he have attacked them by now? 

He slowly returned the blade back to his pocket and shook Hermann's hand. "Thank you," Cas said to him. 

"Do you two want to have a unique experience?" Hermann asked, looking at them both. "We missed playtime yesterday, so I came here early to spend a bit of time with our cats. Would you like to see them up close?" 

"I'd love to," Gail said, rising from the bench. Cas gave her a look, communicating non-verbally: Be careful. He looked at her hand, but he didn't take it. If something happened, he would need both hands free. 

Hermann walked over to the white tigers' cage as they followed. "I saw you with these two earlier," Hermann said to Cas. "They're my favourites. And they seem to have an affinity for you." He took out a key and unlocked the cage, then opened the door. He looked back at them. "You can come in with me, if you want. Don't be afraid; they're very docile." 

Gail was conflicted. On the one hand, she'd love to see the big cats up close. But on the other hand, they were huge, and they were still wild animals. Was it a good idea? They were strangers to the animals, after all. Presumably, they knew this guy well, and were comfortable with him. 

Castiel was also uneasy now. He was no longer willing to accept this man's explanation of who he was. He was trying to entice them into entering a cage. A cage that held two beasts. That sounded all too familiar to him. 

"I think we'll just stay out here," Cas said quietly. He and Gail exchanged glances. 

Hermann shrugged. "Suit yourselves." The tigers were approaching him now, and one of them got up on its hind legs, putting its massive paws on Hermann's shoulders. Gail was alarmed. Was it going to attack him? 

But the tiger's gesture was apparently one of affection, and Hermann smiled, ruffling the big cat's fur. "You like your hugs, don't you, Ingrid?" he said to the animal. Then he looked down at the other tiger, who was nuzzling his hip. "Now, don't get jealous, Brigitta," he said, patting its head. "It'll be your turn in a minute." 

Gail nodded. "I knew they had to be females," she said to Cas, smiling. 

He smiled back, relieved. Now he was back to believing that Hermann was who he said he was. Animals were very intuitive; if this man were an impostor, they would have sensed it. 

Suddenly, Hermann froze in mid-motion. The cats were still nuzzling him, but he was standing like a statue. Cas was back on alert. "Hermann?" he called out. But the man remained frozen to the spot. 

Gail's eyes widened. What the hell? 

"I thought we'd have a private conversation," a voice said from behind her. "In fact..." 

Lucifer waved his hand again, and Cas froze. He had been in the act of going for his blade again, and his hand was in his inside pocket. But he also looked like a statue now. 

Gail whirled around to see a tall man, and a very attractive woman standing behind him. 

"Imagine my surprise, seeing the two of you here," Lucifer said to her. "Someone double-crossed me. This is way too early. I was looking for young Kevin." 

Oh, God. My God. It was him. And was this Aurielle with him? What was Gail supposed to do now? If she went for the blade she had in her pocket, Lucifer would vapourize her. She tried to send Bobby an urgent message on Angel Radio, but all she got was static. 

"Nice try," Lucifer said dryly. "But I've spent enough time with Bobby as it is, thanks. Now I want to spend a bit of quality time with the two of you." 

Aurielle moved over to where Castiel stood. She touched his arm with one hand and touched his face with the other. He looked so handsome, as always. She leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. 

"Hi, Aurielle," Gail said sarcastically. "Did you do that to him? I guess it's the only way you could keep him from throwing up when you touch him." 

Aurielle turned to glare at her. "You're the sickening one," she snapped. "And now, as you can see, I'm much more beautiful than you are." She caressed Cas's cheek. "And I'm willing to do anything for him and have him do anything he wants to me." 

Gail rolled her eyes. Obviously, Aurielle hadn't been in their hotel room last night. "Do you think that's all there is to our relationship?" she asked Aurielle. "If you do, you're very wrong. We love each other. Cas loves me, not you, and you need to accept that. You'd think you would be getting a clue by now. Hasn't he killed you twice already?" 

Lucifer was grinning. What an appropriate place for a cat fight. He was tempted to tell Aurielle to reach into Castiel's pocket and get his blade, and then the two girls could have at it. He could cover them with Jello and sell tickets. Hey, this was Vegas, after all. But it was way too early in the game for any of those types of shenanigans. He had been momentarily thrown when he and Aurielle had arrived to find Castiel and Gail here, not Kevin. No wonder that signal had nearly split his head open. 

"Step away from him, Aurielle," Lucifer said, still smiling. "You're hurting Gail's feelings." 

Aurielle glared at him for a moment, but then she stepped back obediently. 

"That's better," Lucifer said to her, but he was looking at Gail. "She's an obedient little thing," he told Gail. "I get the feeling you wouldn't be nearly so docile. But that's OK. I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy it more that way. And from what I recall, so will you." 

Gail stared at him. So, this was the Devil. He looked like an ordinary man, but he obviously wasn't. And it wasn't surprising to her that he was disgusting. At least, if he was insinuating what she thought he was insinuating. But what exactly had he meant by what he'd said? "What do you mean, 'from what you recall'?" she asked him in a sharp tone. "What are you babbling about?" 

Lucifer's smile turned nasty. That was right; she wouldn't remember their having met before, would she? That was why she had had no discernible reaction when she'd turned around to look at him. He'd forgotten about that, himself. But he needed to get some kind of a reaction. 

He waved his hand, and Cas was able to move again. But Lucifer made sure it was only from the waist up. "Lucifer!" Cas exclaimed. 

Gail looked at Cas. "How did you know that?" she asked him. "I thought the two of you had never met." 

"I'm famous," Lucifer said simply. 

"More like notorious," Cas snapped, making Gail smile. 

"Laugh it up, Castiel," Lucifer said irritably. "You'll be crying soon enough." 

Cas's blood ran cold. He couldn't move his legs, so he couldn't fight Lucifer with the blade he was holding in his hand. The first thing he'd done once he had been able to move was to complete the action of drawing his blade. But now that he had it in his hand, what was he supposed to do with it? He contemplated throwing it at Lucifer's chest. He had successfully killed Demons that way in the past. But he would only get the one shot at it, and if he missed, he would have lost his weapon. Better to hang on to it for now. 

He flung his arms out in Lucifer's direction, and a ray of blue shot out from each hand. Cas was pleased. He had been practicing that for a while now. When he and Gail had been separated, Cas had set up targets in his apartment, and soon he'd been able to obliterate the tin cans with ease. 

Lucifer smiled. He moved his arms and redirected the blue beams away from him, and they bounced off the cages in the Garden, blasting holes in the bars. Good, Lucifer thought. He hated cages. 

"Really, Castiel?" Lucifer said sardonically. "Did you really think that was going to work?" 

Gail looked at the holes in the bars, and she looked at Cas in astonishment. Since when could he do that? Now, THAT was a handy power to have in a fight. Apparently, the only thing she could do was clean Lucifer's shirt, if he spilled something on himself. But then, she remembered: she did have a talent that would be very useful in this situation. 

"Try that again," she said to Cas. He looked at her, puzzled. Why should he do that, when the element of surprise was gone? Gail nodded encouragingly. He gave a half-shrug, then did it again, with the same result. "Again," she said, and he gave her a strange look, but obliged. 

Lucifer was laughing now. "I could do this all day. But you're boring me now, Castiel. For an Original, you're not being very...original," he quipped. "And what about you, Gail?" He stepped forward and stroked her arm with one finger. "Don't you have anything special that you can show me?" 

She jerked her arm away in disgust. "As a matter of fact, I do," she said to him. "Have you ever seen feeding time at the zoo?" Gail turned to the cages and flung out her arms. The golden beam of light shot out of her fingers and enveloped the big cats. Most of the cages around where they were standing had gaping holes in the bars now, thanks to Lucifer's deflection of Cas's salvos. The cats were now able to exit their cages, and they rushed out to attack Lucifer and Aurielle. 

The white tigers jumped Lucifer from behind, but before they could get their claws and teeth into him, he winked himself back to his hotel room. The instant he did, Castiel's paralysis broke, and he ran towards Aurielle with his blade upraised. 

She was down on the ground, and a leopard was clawing at her face. She had been too panicked to realize that she could just vanish from there, too. She screamed as the big cat clawed her again, then she regained her senses and winked herself out from under it. 

Castiel's back was turned, so he didn't see the black panther jump on Gail from behind and knock her down. She rolled over immediately, but its strong jaws bit into her stomach, tearing into her flesh. She was too shocked to make a sound. Then it bit her arm, and as she tried to pull her arm out of the cat's mouth, Gail could feel the snap of her arm breaking. 

"Cas!" she screamed. He had been talking to the cats, persuading them to go back to their cages. But with all the noise that the beasts had been making, he had been oblivious to what had been going on behind him. Now Cas wheeled around, panicked to hear her scream that way, and he saw the horrifying sight. 

He dove onto the panther's back and slit its throat with his blade, then pulled the cat's body off of her and threw it aside. As the corpse landed on the pavement, a puff of black smoke issued from its mouth. 

Castiel stared at it, open-mouthed. So that was what had happened. He had been wondering why one of the cats would have attacked her. It had obviously been possessed by a Demon. Well, that was one less Demon on Earth now, anyway. Castiel had killed it so quickly that it hadn't had the chance to leave the cat's body. But a Demon possessing an animal? That was a first, in his experience. And why would a Demon attack her, anyway? Hadn't Crowley advised that he would tell his minions to leave them alone? He'd be having a good little chat with his Brother about that. This Demon had better have gone rogue, or Crowley was going to be the next one with his throat cut. 

Cas looked down at Gail, and all he could see was blood. My God. "Gail," he breathed. He started to move his hands over her body, healing what he could. Her clothing was soaked with blood, though, and Cas wasn't sure if what he was doing was even helping her. 

Gail was crying, moaning from the pain. Her arm was mangled. There was no way Cas could heal that. He lifted what remained of her top to look at her stomach, and what he saw there was even worse. The animal had torn chunks of flesh from her body. Castiel could heal open wounds, but this? Her torso was like a war zone. 

He lifted his head to the sky. "Bobby!" he shouted. "Help us, please!" 

Bobby was already there, standing behind Cas. He looked down at Gail, feeling sick to his stomach. "I can't help with that, Cas," he said, frowning. "She's gonna have to go to a hospital." 

Cas rose immediately, grabbing Bobby by the shirt front with his bloody hands. "What do you mean, you can't help her? You're God, aren't you? Look at her!" he yelled in Bobby's face. 

"God didn't give me all of his abilities," Bobby said, trying to keep his voice calm. "I couldn't bring Sam out of that coma, and I can't replace chunks of flesh! If we want to save her vessel, we've got to get her to a hospital. They know how to fix this sort of thing." 

Cas's eyes flashed. "You sent her here. This is your fault." 

"Yeah, and you were here with her when this happened," Bobby shot back. "You wanted to be here to protect her, didn't you? So, where were you when she was being made into cat chow?" 

Cas punched Bobby in the face. 

Gail was struggling to sit up, but it was too painful, and she cried out. Was she hallucinating, or had she just seen Cas punch out God? 

"Cas, don't," she groaned loudly. "Please." 

Bobby instantly regretted what he'd said. Cas had made him mad, but he should be better than that. In a way, he didn't blame Cas for clocking him one. But poor Gail was laying there in agony, and he and Cas were behaving like asses. 

"You take one end, and I'll take the other," Bobby said to Cas. He dropped to his knees by Gail's side, and an instant later, Cas was on his knees on her opposite side. Bobby waved his arm, reanimating Hermann, then he said, "Let's go." 

He and Cas winked Gail away, as Hermann shook his head. That had been a weird feeling. He turned back to speak to the couple, but they weren't there. Strange. Had they left? Then he looked around, and his mouth dropped open. There were gaping holes in the bars of all of the cages, but the cats had apparently not even tried to escape. He counted heads. Yes, they all seemed to be here, and they were all docile. Some were napping, and others were stretching and yawning, looking as if they were preparing to do the same. 

Then Hermann noticed the black panthers' body, and all the blood on the pavement. My God, what had happened here? Had the man and woman sabotaged the cages and killed the panther? No, he couldn't believe they would do something like that. But then, what had happened here? 

Bobby had winked them into a supply closet in the hospital that was closest to the bunker. Cas looked around, surprised. 

"I'll go get a gurney," he said to Cas. "Then we'll roll her to the ER ourselves, and nobody will know where we came from." 

He exited the room as Cas nodded absently. He was staring at Gail's face. 

"I wish I could take your pain away," he told her softly. "I would take it all from you and give it to myself. I'm the one who deserves it. I failed to protect you." 

Gail's eyes were half-closed. She was greying in and out of consciousness. Maybe she should just get Cas to do what he'd done last night; knock her unconscious. But she could tell that they had brought her to a hospital, so she figured she'd better just let the doctors do their job. She couldn't tell how bad her torso was, and she was afraid to look. But it must be really bad, if even Bobby couldn't heal it. 

"There was nothing you could do, Cas," she told him. "It all happened so fast. And at least you got the thing off me before it could do even more damage. Come here." She motioned with the arm that wasn't broken. Cas leaned down, bringing his face close to hers. She touched his face. "Don't worry, I'm sure they can fix me up here," she told him. Then she winced. "But I hope they have some pretty heavy-duty painkillers." 

He took her hand and kissed it gently. Why was it that whenever she was hurt, SHE ended up comforting HIM? And why was it always Gail that ended up getting hurt, anyway? It should be him. He'd gladly cut his own left arm clean off his body if that would mean she would never have to go through anything like this ever again. 

"I wonder why it attacked ME, though," Gail said. "Maybe I shouldn't use that power any more. Making animals attack is all very well and good, until they attack you." 

"It wasn't an animal," he told her. "It was possessed by a Demon." 

"A Demon?" Gail said, surprised. "I wonder if Crowley knows about that." 

"Oh, we'll be talking about that," Castiel said grimly. "And he'd better have some satisfactory answers." 

"Feel free to punch him, too," Gail quipped. Then her voice turned serious. "You shouldn't have done that, Cas. It was a lousy thing for Bobby to say, but you still shouldn't have done that. You and your temper. It's just like that time you pulled your blade out and slammed it down on the table, for no apparent reason. Save all of that anger for our enemies." Wait, what had she just said? It had just come rushing out of her mouth. But, when had he ever done that? She had no idea where or when something like that would ever have occurred. 

Cas was horrified. She should not be remembering that. The incident had occurred at the onset of his Demon phase. Her brother Frank had been annoying him, and Cas had taken out his blade and slapped it down on the kitchen table in the bunker, implying that he would harm Frank with it if he didn't stop. How on Earth could he have done something like that? He still couldn't believe it. It was like a person who gets very drunk and remembers all of the idiotic things they did while in that condition, things that were very contrary to their true nature. Some would say that was Cas's true nature, but they would be wrong. Whenever Cas thought about his behaviour during the time he'd been a Demon, which was often, he didn't even recognize himself. Shame burned within him as he looked down at her bloody clothes. Every time he saw her hurting now, it felt like there was a vise that was pulling tightly over his heart. Not too long ago, Cas had been the one to make her bleed. Was their Father constantly letting her be harmed to make some kind of a point? And if so, exactly what would that point be? Cas didn't need a constant reminder of what he'd been, and what he had done. He still thought about it practically every minute of every day. Cas didn't need to be punished by God; he was doing an extremely effective job of that himself. 

"I'm sorry, Gail," he said softly, taking her hand in both of his. "I'm so sorry." A tear squeezed out of his eye and rolled down his cheek. 

She misunderstood. "Don't tell me, tell Bobby," she said. Then she passed out. 

Lucifer had healed Aurielle as best he could, but she now had ugly, jagged scars on her face, and she was inconsolable. "Look at me," she moaned. "I'm hideous! Can't you do something?" 

"I did what I could," Lucifer said tersely. "You need to quit your whining." He was in a foul mood now. That had been a disaster. He had not been able to kill Kevin, Aurielle's face was ruined, and Castiel and Gail had more powers than he'd thought. And now, Gail's body was a mess. He'd continued to watch them after he'd gotten back here, and so Lucifer had seen the black panther attack her. Then he had seen the puff of black smoke, and that had surprised him. Had the attack been Crowley's doing? But Lucifer doubted that very much. He knew that Crowley actually liked Gail, as much as he could like any of that group. It would have made more sense for him to send the Demon after Castiel. But, that wasn't Crowley's style; it more likely had been one of his subjects, who had thought that getting rid of the Angels would be just the thing to ingratiate him with his boss. But now Gail's vessel was bloody and ugly, and she would likely be scarred as well, like Aurielle. Plus, she would need time to heal now. None of the God Squad would be able to heal injuries like that. Lucifer shrugged. Oh, well. He hadn't been planning to defile her so soon, anyway. But, still, his campaign was not exactly off to a rollicking start. And Aurielle was bitching and moaning about a few scars on her face. Maybe she'd like to trade places with Gail for a while. Lucifer could make that happen, if she kept up her complaining. He could wave both hands and inflict so many injuries on Aurielle's body that she would beg for death, if she really wanted. 

"How stupid are you?" he asked her, giving her a baleful look. 

Aurielle bristled. She'd hated it when Xavier and the other men talked down to her, acting like she wasn't every it as smart as they were. "What do you mean?" she asked him, her teeth gritted. 

"I mean, go out and get another vessel then, if you don't like the way you look. There are lots of beautiful women out there," Lucifer said, trying not to lose his patience. 

Aurielle did feel a little stupid now. She hadn't thought of that. But she thought she deserved a break on that subject. Prior to their trip to Earth, she'd had the same appearance for hundreds of years. The idea that she could just slip in and out of people, just like trying on a pair of shoes, was still foreign to her. 

Then she had a brilliant idea. If she could inhabit anyone she chose, why couldn't she just take over Gail's vessel? Her heart started to race with excitement. Why had she not thought of that before? Then Castiel would do all of the things that he did to Gail to Aurielle, and he would do them eagerly, because he would think she was Gail. Aurielle felt warm all over. This could be the answer to everything. She could live out Gail's existence very happily. Gail had exalted status in Heaven, although Aurielle suspected that was more due to her relationship with Castiel than anything Gail herself had ever done. Gail had many friends, too, something Aurielle had never had. And she had Castiel's love, which was the most important thing. Deep, deep down, Aurielle knew that in spite of all her scheming, Castiel would never genuinely love her. It pained her to admit it, but Aurielle knew that Castiel really did love Gail. He had to. He had been with her all this time, through good times and bad. And Gail loved him back. If Aurielle were Gail, she wouldn't have to playact that part at all. She couldn't wait for Castiel to take her in his arms and look at her with love in his eyes. 

Lucifer could see the wheels spinning in Aurielle's head, and he had correctly guessed what she was thinking. He didn't know whether to be amused, or angry. He had to hand it to her, though. She wasn't stupid at all. It had taken her a while, but she had finally come up with a viable plan to get Castiel, in every sense of the term. If Lucifer had been inclined to help her, he would have told her that now would be the optimal time to do it, too. If she were going to pretend to be Gail, she could blame any slip-ups on her memory loss, and no one would bat an eye. But Lucifer was not going to allow it. He wanted Gail to be Gail when she was on her knees in front of him. He would play with her like a shiny new toy, and then, when she was broken, he would discard her. That, in turn, would break Castiel. Maybe they could get a double room in the insane asylum. If each even knew who the other one was at that point, of course. 

"I know what you're thinking," Lucifer said to Aurielle. "And I'm not going to allow it. So you can just put that thought right out of your scarred, ugly head." 

"How do you know what I was thinking?" Aurielle retorted. 

"Never mind, I know," he said firmly. "And you'd better not even try it. I've been good to you up till this point." 

"What do you care?" she snapped. Aurielle couldn't believe it. She really needed to do this, and he was telling her she wasn't allowed to? Who the hell did he think he was? 

Lucifer leapt off his bed and grabbed her by the throat, pinning her up against the wall. "You'll do as you're told," he said, gritting his teeth. She was wide-eyed with fear now. She had pushed him too far. 

He loved seeing the look of fear on her face. It excited him. He grabbed one of her hands and put it on himself, and her eyes grew wider. "If you want to be intact for Castiel, you'd better be very careful with me," he told her. He moved against her hand. "I've done without since the beginning of time. I could split you open like an English muffin. It would be hard for him to enjoy the experience after that, even with his overly generous endowment." 

"Close your eyes," he ordered her, and she did so immediately, not wanting to anger him any further. "Pretend I'm your precious Castiel, just for a moment." 

Aurielle did, and she began to feel excited, too. 

"Go ahead and touch yourself," Lucifer said. "I know you do that when you think of him. You don't have to be ashamed. Guys like that." His grip on her neck eased, and he watched as her hand crept into her pants. Now he was grinning. It was so easy to corrupt those who wanted to be corrupted. He grabbed her other hand and shoved it down his pants. That was the first time he'd ever been touched by a woman there, and it felt good. Her hand was a lot softer than his own. But it was starting to feel a little too good. In another minute, he was going to have to make her stop. He was saving his first time for Gail. 

Aurielle was stroking herself now, and she was smiling. Castiel was getting her ready, and she was doing the same to him. They were going to make each other feel so good. 

Lucifer hated to do it, but he took her hand off of him. "It's a pity you're so ugly now," he said nastily. "Open your eyes and get your hand out of your pants. You're pathetic, and you're disgusting. Go out and get a decent vessel. I'll give you one more chance, Aurielle. But you'll do everything I say, when I say. And if you talk to me like that again, you'll be extremely sorry. I can make your body look ten times worse than Gail's does right now and give you twice her pain." 

Aurielle scurried out of the suite, rubbing her neck with a shaking hand. That had been a close call. She would have to find some hand sanitizer as soon as possible, though. And he had the nerve to call her disgusting. The only way Lucifer could ever get a woman would be to force himself on her. Aurielle was all for what he was planning to do to Gail, but he'd better not ever try that on her. Of course, it was easy to be full of bravado when you didn't have the Devil's hand on your throat. 

She went to the Guest Services desk and used so much sanitizer on her hand that the clerk finally had to take the bottle away from her. Then she walked around the casino, searching for a new vessel. She had really liked the one she was in now, but she supposed he had been right about that, anyway. There were a lot of beautiful women here, with beautiful bodies. Besides, the Angels had seen the one she was in now, anyway. When she took Gail, she needed to have the element of surprise on her side. She had been too overt at the Secret Garden. And yes, she still intended to go through with it. It was too good of a plan. Screw Lucifer. Figuratively speaking, of course. But she would have to be very careful about it. She would continue to play the part of Lucifer's slave until Gail had recovered from her attack, and then Aurielle would take her over. And there wouldn't be a damn thing Lucifer could do about it. 

Cas was sitting in the chair beside Gail's bed, holding her hand. The doctors had done everything they could for her for the time being, and she was resting as comfortably as they had been able to make her. 

"Boyyyy, am I stoned," Gail said to him. "But I'm glad. Nothing says pain like being turned into Fancy Feast." 

She was trying to be brave by using humour. Cas knew that the more frightened she got, the more she joked. And Gail had been very scared. If their encounter with Lucifer had been any indication of future encounters with him, they would need to bring a veritable army. He had handled them easily, and she had the feeling that they had only seen the opening act. The only reason they'd gotten off so lightly was that she had had the inspiration to have the big cats attack. Luckily, Lucifer had panicked and disappeared, leaving Aurielle to her own fate. Gail should have figured as much. Lucifer was obviously a selfish coward. But they had been lucky; he could just as easily have stayed, killing all of the cats, and then her and Castiel. But she had the feeling that murder was the last thing that Lucifer had in mind. She hadn't liked what he'd said to her about "enjoying it". He seemed to be under the impression that they had already met, or that he knew her somehow. She had planned on bringing this up with Cas to ask him about it, but he was so traumatized at the moment that she didn't have the heart. He had been crying non-stop from the time Bobby had come back to the closet with the gurney to the time that they had wheeled her in here from the recovery room. They had done some exploratory surgery on her to see if she had any permanent damage to her internal organs, and now she and Cas were waiting for the report. She had asked him quietly before they took her away for the surgery if there would be a problem, seeing as she was an Angel. But he'd said no. Even though she was a celestial being, her human body still retained all of its human properties. That was why, when they were injured, they still bled, and felt pain. So they could operate on her, not knowing what she really was. But he had surreptitiously put his hand on her forehead to knock her unconscious before they had wheeled her away, and he had revived her here. Anesthesia didn't work on Angels. 

Bobby had gone to tell the others, and to pull Linda and Kevin from their respective cities. This incident had spooked him, and he didn't want anyone to be out there any more, even though that had been the intent of the whole thing in the first place. It had looked so good,on paper. But just look at poor Gail now. Even though Lucifer hadn't actually done that to her, Bobby didn't have the heart to leave anyone out there as bait any more. 

"Would you still love me if I had something the matter with me inside?" Gail asked Cas softly. 

He looked at her, startled. Why did she have to say things like that? Yes, he knew that she was talking about the potential for organ damage. But his guilty ears heard her differently. He had certainly had something wrong with him inside, and she had loved him anyway. She had saved him from himself, and he couldn't even save her from one animal. 

"Of course I would," he said, kissing her hand. "But if the news is not good, you could always get another vessel." 

Maybe it was the painkillers, but Gail was greatly amused by that. "And where exactly does one go to get something like that? Souls 'R' Us? Bed, Bath and Bodies?" 

Now he couldn't help but smile. She was so funny. "Not quite," he told her. "But Bobby could make those arrangements, if necessary." 

"Wow," Gail said. "What a concept. Maybe I could upgrade, then. Do you have any requests?" 

"You're perfect just the way you are," Cas said firmly. 

"Are you sure?" she teased. "I could be taller, if you want. Then you wouldn't have to bend down so far to kiss me. And I could finally get things off the high shelves." 

"I'll always be glad to reach the high shelves for you," Cas said. "And as far as bending down, I'll gladly bend for you for the rest of my days." 

"You're too sweet to be true," Gail said, smiling. 

The doctor knocked at the door, then entered the room. "I've got good news and bad news," he told them. "The good news is, there doesn't seem to be any permanent damage to your organs. The bad news is, you'll need several skin graft operations, and the recovery process will be lengthy." 

Gail thought about that. OK, not great, but it could have been a lot worse. She thanked him for the report. 

"You can go home now," he told her. "You need to heal a bit more before we can perform the first operation. Do you have anyone at home who can help take care of you for a while? It'll be quite painful to move, and once the operations start, the pain will be considerable." 

"Don't sugar-coat it, Doctor. Will I be in any pain?" she deadpanned. But she appreciated his honesty. She supposed. 

He opened his mouth to speak, looked at her, then closed it again. This was so like Dean that Gail laughed, but despite the medication she was on, it hurt to do that. So she stopped. But that depressed her even more. Gail loved to laugh. It was going to be tough to try not to do that for a while. 

"She's a live one, isn't she?" the doctor said to Cas. "I assume you'll be the one taking care of her?" 

"Yes, I will," Cas answered automatically. 

"Here," the physician said, handing him a bottle of pills. "She can have three a day, but no more than that. They're morphine-based, and they're very strong." 

Cas put the bottle in his pocket and shook the doctor's hand, thanking him. Once the doctor left the room, Cas turned back to Gail and said, "Let's get you home. Here, I'll help you." 

She had been trying to get out of bed, and he could see her grimacing from the pain that the motion was causing her. And she was essentially one-armed at the moment. Her left arm was in a cast. The doctor had told Cas and Bobby that the broken bone had to heal before they could do any further repair to her arm. Cas had had all too much experience with this type of situation, so he had told the medical staff that he was Gail's husband, and that Bobby was Gail's father. Well, that last one was kind of true. He'd still felt the sense of warmth he always felt when he'd said he was Gail's husband, but he'd also been nearly overcome with worry for her. Now, thankfully, they had received confirmation that she was going to be all right. He didn't care how long the recovery process took; he would be with her every step of the way. And in a way, it was a blessing. Now Bobby wouldn't be able to send her out in the field. She was going to go to the bunker, where she would be safe, under all of its protections. 

He rushed over to the bed. "Slow down. Let me help you," he told her. "I know you like to do things yourself, but you'll have to allow me to help you for a while. It means I'll have to be touching you a lot, but sacrifices must be made," he quipped, his lips twitching. 

Gail looked at him for a moment, then she burst into laughter. But she clutched her stomach immediately, and her laughter stopped. "Owww," she complained, tears springing to her eyes. "Looks like I'll have to be the only one making jokes for a while." 

"I'm sorry, Gail," Cas said quickly. He had only intended to keep her spirits up, not hurt her further. He felt sick inside. Maybe, while she was resting in the bunker, he would have to pray to his Father, and beg Him to stop. Castiel got it now; God was punishing him for everything he had done. But did He have to be so cruel to Gail while He was doing it? She had done nothing wrong; it was Cas who had. He had tortured and killed as a Demon, badly abused Gail, and he had even admitted that a part of him hated God. But these latest incidents weren't exactly helping in that regard. Castiel burned with guilt, but he was also very angry. He was trying not to be, but it was extremely difficult. Look at how much pain she was in now. How could God do that to her? 

"It's OK, Cas," Gail told him, settling back on the pillow. "It's not your fault. And I like it when you joke. I don't ever want you to stop doing that. Things are serious enough as it is. We can all benefit from a little levity sometimes." 

He had never felt less like joking now. She was always telling him that things weren't his fault, but she was wrong. Everything that had happened to her was his fault. Everything. 

"Let's get you dressed," he said lightly, trying not to show how he was feeling inside. 

"Too bad it wasn't the opposite," she teased. "I guess it'll be a while for that now, too." Great. Now she couldn't have a laugh, and they couldn't...Two of her favourite things, out the window. She would have to take up a hobby, or something. 

"Making it all that much sweeter, when we can," Cas said casually. He had opened her suitcase and was picking out some clothes for her to wear. When she'd been in the operating room, he had popped back to Las Vegas to get their things. His bag, and the bag with the books, were already in their room at the bunker. He brought her clothes over to the bed. "Lucky your lips weren't injured," he said to her, taking the bedsheets off of her. "As mine will be on them, quite often." 

Gail smiled. God, he was adorable. He was dressing her like she was a child now, and she was letting him. In a strange way, this was almost as sexy as having him undress her. He was so gentle, and his touch was so loving. 

"Put your arms around my neck," he said to her. She did, and he lifted her off the bed. 

"I'll come back here to get your suitcase in a minute, and to pay the bill," Cas told her. "But I want to get you to the bunker and get you settled in first. Sam's got the bed all made up, and he'll make sure you have everything you need. I'll be back there as quickly as I can." 

Gail thought about that. She was in pain, but she was not an invalid, and she had no intention of just lolling around in bed all day while everyone else was doing their duty. She'd have to talk to Sam. Maybe he could give her something useful to do. She'd have to use her mind to help, if she couldn't use her body at the moment. But she said nothing for now. Cas was obviously feeling guilty about not being able to save her from having been attacked, and he was treating her as if she were a thin sheet of glass, liable to shatter at any moment. But he should know better. Lucifer and Aurielle had pissed her off, and now she was even more motivated to help take them down. 

Cas winked them into the bedroom at the bunker, where Sam was waiting with a look of extreme concern on his face. "How is she, Cas?" he asked, as Cas laid Gail down on the bed, pulling the covers over her. 

"Why don't you try asking ME that?" Gail said, a little irritably. 

Sam grinned. She must not be too bad, then. "I'm sorry, Gail," he said to her. "How are you?" 

"How the hell should I know? Ask Cas," she said, with a wicked smile on her face. Sam looked puzzled, and her smile grew. "Sorry," she said, shrugging. "Couldn't resist, didn't try." 

Sam shook his head slowly. "How many painkillers do they have you on?" he quipped. 

"Not enough, clearly," Gail said, wincing again. She had been trying to rearrange the pillows behind her, and her stomach was letting her know that that wasn't a good idea. It was amazing; you never really realized how much your stomach actually came into play whenever you moved, Gail thought. Life was certainly going to be challenging for a while. 

"That reminds me," Cas said. He took the pill bottle out of his pocket and handed it to Sam. "She's only allowed three a day. We'll have to communicate, to make sure we're not duplicating." 

Sam was faintly amused. An Angel, taking pills. But he supposed it only made sense, in a way. Their bodies may only be vessels, but once they were in them, their bodies were bound by all the physical laws that humans experienced. Well, most of them, anyway. At least he wouldn't have to bring her a bedpan, he thought with some amusement. 

"Oh, you brought the pictures," Gail said. "That was really considerate. Now I'll have something gorgeous to look at while I'm resting." 

Cas turned to look at her. What was she talking about? Then he looked where she was looking, at the wall where the framed photos of the Supernatural actors were hanging. Damn. He had forgotten they were here. She had hung them up in this room when she and Cas had lived apart, and they were still here now. He smiled weakly as Sam said, "I told Jody that was probably how they got here," he said to Cas. "When did you have a chance to do that, though? They were already here when Jody slept here." Jody had graciously offered to move to another room when Bobby had told them that he was sending Gail here to recuperate. It had been Gail's room first, after all, and Jody thought that being able to look at the pictures might cheer Gail up. She and Becky were hanging back in the library area right now, not wanting to overwhelm Gail with too many visitors all at once. Linda and Kevin were there, too. Bobby had brought them back here, and he was going for Dean and his group now. This operation had been a real bust. They all needed to have a meeting, to decide where they went from here. And the guys would want to see Gail, too. Frank must be freaking out right now. The Angels could have winked them back to the bunker already, but Bobby wanted to give her a few minutes to get settled first, before everybody rushed her all at once. He felt responsible for what had happened to her. Bobby didn't blame Cas one bit, despite what he'd said before. The buck stopped with him, and he had no idea what he'd been thinking, sending her out there alone. Lucky Cas had done the expected thing, which was to do the opposite of what he'd been supposed to be doing. Bobby had figured that he would. But even though Cas had arrived in time to help defend her from the would-be robbers, he had not been able to stop what had happened this morning. Bobby was also starting to wonder if God was sending them a message here, but he had no idea what that message could possibly be. 

"A while back," Cas answered Sam vaguely. He went back to Gail's bedside. "I'll be back in just a couple of minutes," he told her, taking her hand. "If you need anything, anything at all, just ask Sam. Bobby's going to get everyone now. We're all going to have a strategy meeting." 

Gail nodded. Good. She was sure she'd be able to contribute something there. And she was looking forward to seeing everyone again, safe and sound. She and Cas could tell them all what they had observed, and she could warn the guys about the attack she had suffered. Even if Crowley hadn't ordered the attack, other Demons might go rogue, too. 

Cas leaned down and kissed her gently on the forehead, then briefly on the lips. Then he winked out, eager to get his errands done so he could come back to her. 

Gail looked at Sam. "Sorry to be such an imposition," she said to him. "But don't worry, I won't be staying in bed for long. We'll have to get me a wheelchair, or something. I'm not going to just lay in bed all day like some kind of a princess." 

Sam smiled. "First of all, you're not an imposition. But I don't know how Cas will react if you try to get out of that bed." 

She shrugged. "He's just going to have to deal with it. Besides, he probably won't be here that much. There's no way Bobby's going to let him just hang around here being my nurse all day. Those guys are still out there, and Cas is the leader of our group. All due respect to Dean," she added, smiling. 

Sam smiled absently. She was right. There was no way. Cas would be pissed off, but he would have no choice in the matter. 

"I'll take care of you in his absence," Sam said, looking fondly at Gail. "Now I'm glad he kept me here. I wanted to be out there, fighting with you guys. But I'll suck it up to make sure you get back on your feet as soon as possible." 

"Thanks, Sam," she said. 

"When did you have your last pill?" he asked her. 

"How the hell should I know?" she replied. "I've been out of it. You know, for an Angel, I've been way too unconscious way too often lately." 

"I'd better ask Cas when he gets back, then," Sam said. "We don't want you to turn into a drug addict," he teased. 

"The only thing I'm addicted to just left this room," she quipped. But it felt strange being in this particular room right now. Those weird images were flashing in her head again. Squiggly lines on the floor beneath the bed. Cas, with blood on his mouth, looking at her. Man, those pills must be strong. 

"I'll just put these in the medicine cabinet, then," Sam said, turning to leave the room. Then he turned back. "Is it OK if I tell Jody and Becky they can come in? They've been wanting to see you, too. And Kevin and Linda just got here." 

"Sure, Sam," Gail said. "I'd like to see them. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone when they all get back." 

"I'll have to ask Bobby to conjure you up a wheelchair, then," Sam said. "That's if Cas lets you get out of bed, of course." 

"Yeah, right," she scoffed. "Like that's gonna stop me." 

Sam laughed, and left the room. He went to the library to tell Jody and Becky it was OK to go in and see her, and then he went back down the hall to the bathroom. He opened the medicine cabinet and put the pill bottle on the shelf next to the electric shaver. He ran his hand over his face, but decided it was OK for now. He'd been about to shave after his shower this morning but had been interrupted when Jody had taken the call from Bobby, and Becky had come running down the hall, screaming his name. 

Sam remembered the day Dean had come home with two electric shavers. He had swept all the razors into the trash can and tied up the bag. "No more of these, Sammy. Ever," he'd told his brother, and he had stalked out of the room with the bag in his hand. Sam had stared after him, bemused. What had that been all about? He'd been trying to get Dean to switch to electric for years, but Dean had always complained that they didn't give him a close enough shave. Now, suddenly, the razors were banished. His older brother was sure weird sometimes. 

Now he was hearing Dean's voice down the hall, and other voices, too. They were obviously all back now, and they were swapping stories. 

Sam went back to Gail's room to tell her to hang on while Bobby got her a wheelchair, but Cas was already there, and he was putting her in one. "I liberated it from the hospital," he told Sam. "But it's OK. I added more money to the bill I paid for the rental, and I'll take it back when she doesn't need it anymore." 

"Where are Jody and Becky?" Sam asked. 

"He chased them out," Gail said. She was smiling up at Cas. "Then he said he wanted me to rest, and then I read him the Riot Act, and then he put me in this wheelchair." 

Cas gave her a sheepish smile. He'd had to try. But he knew she wouldn't be able to stay in bed with all the others here, about to have a meeting. And it was better for him to do it than for her to try to do it herself. She probably would, too. But it was a lot easier on her for him to do it. 

He wheeled her into the library area, and Gail's face broke into a wide smile as she saw everyone, safe and sound. What a wonderful sight to see. Everyone she loved, gathered in the same room. Their conversation was lively and animated, filled with smiles and laughter. 

"Hi, guys," she said, and everyone stopped talking immediately. Frank rushed over to her. "How are you doing, kiddo?" he asked, looking down at her. 

"Not so great, but I'll be OK," she replied. "I'm glad you guys are all OK, though. Especially since it was a Demon who attacked me." 

Frank frowned. "We should have just killed all those bastards." 

"Thank you for not doing that." Crowley's voice. They all turned around. The King of Hell was standing next to Bobby at the other end of the library table. 

"What's HE doing here?" Frank said angrily. 

"He wanted to see Gail," Bobby answered, "so I momentarily lifted the protections, and then I had Dean invite him in." 

Dean gave Frank a sheepish shrug. He walked over to Gail and Frank stepped aside, glaring at him. Dean ignored him for the moment and looked at Gail, chucking her under the chin. "It's good to see you," he told her. 

"Believe it or not, I came here to apologize, and to make sure you were all right," Crowley said to Gail. 

She looked at him, open-mouthed. He was actually sincere. This had to be a first. 

Crowley smiled at her expression. He really shouldn't do this, but the temptation was just too great, and he had never been one to pass up temptation. "What's the matter, sweetheart?" he asked her. "Cat got your tongue?" 

Cas rushed forward, and Sam and Dean barely had time to grab him. Frank took a step forward too, glaring at Crowley. Why were they restraining Cas? He'd pay to see Cas take a strip off that smug little bastard. 

"Do you think that's funny?" Cas shouted at Crowley. "You have about five seconds to convince me that you weren't behind what happened to her!" 

"That's just it; I wasn't," Crowley replied. His heart had stopped there for a moment. Thank God for Moose and Squirrel, he thought with only a little irony. Castiel had that murderous look again. He probably shouldn't have said that. But it had been funny. Maybe just a little too soon, though. 

Crowley still had that smirk on his face, and Castiel was enraged. He was struggling to break free from the brothers' grip on him. He didn't want to hurt them, but he might have to if they didn't let him go. Crowley needed to have that smile wiped right off his face. 

Cas flung his arms in Crowley's direction, and the blue beams shot out of his fingertips, just like in the Secret Garden. Crowley's eyebrows raised, and he snapped his fingers, dissipating the beams of light before they could reach him. 

"Very impressive, Castiel," Crowley said. "We've learned something new, I see. Keep that in your hip pocket. It'll come in handy one day, when you're fighting one of our mutual enemies." 

Cas was fuming. What good was this new skill of his, if his enemies could defeat it that easily? 

"Keep at it," Crowley told him. He looked at Gail. "'You have to really mean it'. Am I right?" 

She smiled in spite of herself. He was quoting from the book and movie series about the boy wizard. Yes, he had an English accent, but who would have ever imagined? But Cas hadn't gotten that far in the series and he had not yet seen the movies, so he wouldn't get the reference. 

Castiel was definitely not smiling, though. "Oh, but I DO mean it," he said quietly. "If I ever find out you were behind this, I'll send you to the Netherworld myself. But it won't be quick, and I can assure you, it won't be painless." 

"I already told you, I wasn't behind it," Crowley said. He hadn't really expected Castiel to believe him, but he hoped Gail did. He did feel badly about what had happened to her. Why couldn't it have happened to Castiel instead? Then he'd be throwing a party in Hell, instead of standing here, being subjected to this. "I came here to apologize," he told Castiel. "To HER," he said pointedly. He looked at Gail again. "My employee acted on his own. I would have disciplined him, had your boyfriend not already taken care of that." 

Gail believed him. "Thanks for that," she said to Crowley, and he dipped his head in acknowledgement. 

"That's all I came here to say," he said. "And now, I believe I'll leave, before Mad Dog Mulligan here tries something we'd both regret," he added dryly. 

"I wouldn't regret it at all," Castiel snarled. 

"Control yourself, Castiel," Crowley said to him. "Remember who your real enemies are." Then he nodded to Bobby, who winked him out of the bunker. 

"Well, that was fun," Chuck said in a shaky voice. 

That broke the tension in the room, and Sam and Dean let go of Cas, shaking out their arms. His struggles had been fierce, and it had taken a lot out of them to restrain him. A part of them regretted having done it, though. 

Cas glared at the brothers momentarily, then he went to Gail and knelt down beside her wheelchair. "I'm sorry he said that to you," he said to her in a soft voice. "Someone needs to shut his mouth, once and for all." 

She touched his face. "Well, as much as I would enjoy that, it's not going to be you," she told him. "I hate to admit it, but he's right. We need to concentrate on Lucifer right now. And Aurielle, and Metatron. Besides, I believe him." 

Frank laughed derisively. "Really? Because he's so trustworthy?" he said to her. "Next time you want to shut that big mouth of his, I'll back you, Cas," he added, clapping Cas on the shoulder. Cas was the only one of these guys who was thinking straight, in Frank's opinion. Yes, he knew they had other fish to fry, but a dead King of Hell would be a damn good start. 

"Right. And Crowley would wipe the floor with you," Gail said, looking up at her brother. "You getting killed isn't going to make me heal any faster." 

"She's right, Frank," Cas said, glancing up at Gail's brother. "You leave him to me." 

Gail shook her head. She knew about the animosity between Crowley and Castiel, of course. It went all the way back to Creation. She had no particular love for Crowley, either, but she'd had enough of confrontation for one day. 

She brought Cas's face to hers with her hands and kissed him softly. "Let's sit down with our friends," she said to him, and he smiled. Her gesture had calmed him for the time being. He guessed he believed Crowley too, but that didn't mean he was going to just let it go, either. His Brother's day of reckoning would come. But for now, they had to come up with some sort of strategy to take care of Lucifer. He was currently the worst threat out there. 

Castiel kissed Gail's hands, then stood and wheeled her over to the table. He pulled out her customary chair for her, then started to push the wheelchair towards the table. 

"I want to sit in my chair," Gail told him. She started to rise from the wheelchair, and he put his arms around her to help her get out of it. Gail stood at the table for a moment, looking at everyone. "Go ahead and sit, guys. I'll be just a second," she said. Wow. Even standing up for a moment had really hurt. But she wasn't going to sit in that wheelchair any longer than she had to. No Demon was going to dictate where and how she sat. She wanted to be in her usual chair, sitting beside Cas and holding his hand, like always. The way it had always been, and the way it should always be. 

He pulled her chair in behind her, and she sank into it gratefully. The others were taking their seats now. Frank pulled out the chair to the right of her, but he didn't sit in it. He crossed around behind Gail's chair and tapped Cas on the shoulder. "Hey," he said to Cas. 

"Yes, Frank?" Cas asked curiously. 

"I just wanted to thank you for always taking care of her," Frank said, putting out his hand for Cas to shake. 

A lump formed in Cas's throat, and he looked down at Frank's hand. Then he shook it, giving Frank a weak smile. He appreciated what Gail's brother was saying to him, but Cas hadn't taken care of her. He had let her down, again. And the secret was steadily gnawing away at him. Frank was so nice to him now, and so was Sam. How could he admit the truth now? It would be the honourable thing to do, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Now he hoped that none of them ever found out. What was he supposed to do with his guilt, though? It was eating him alive. 

"So, anybody got any ideas as to where we go from here?" Bobby said, as Cas and Frank took their seats on either side of Gail. Cas took her hand automatically, but he was looking at Bobby. He didn't think he could stand to look at her right now. She would see it in his face. 

"What does he look like?" Linda piped up, looking at Cas and Gail. 

"Who?" Cas asked reflexively. His mind was still elsewhere. 

"Santa Claus," Linda said, rolling her eyes. "Lucifer! The Devil!" 

"Like an ordinary man," Cas said simply. 

"Thanks, Cas. That was very informative," Chuck said sardonically. 

Cas glared at him. "What do you want me to say?" he snapped. "He looks the same as he's always looked." 

"How would you know that?" Gail asked him. "You seemed to recognize him, back in the Secret Garden. But you two had never met, before today. At least, that's what you told me." 

Cas looked at her helplessly. He didn't know how to respond to that. He certainly couldn't tell her the truth. "All I meant was, he looked the way I expected him to look. I've been hearing about him all my life." 

Gail's brow wrinkled. Did that even make sense? But this was Cas, and Cas never lied. "Oh," she said. "Okay." 

Dean almost rolled his eyes. That had been pretty lame. Cas had better get his act together. Gail wasn't an idiot. "Okay, so he looks like an ordinary guy," he said, trying to redirect the focus. "How about Aurielle?" 

"She was gorgeous," Gail said wryly. "And you should have seen the outfit she almost had on." 

"She'll look different the next time," Cas told them. "And so will Lucifer. They'd be fools to stay in the same vessels, now that we've seen them." 

Great, Dean thought. "So we're back to Square One now," he said disgustedly. 

"Apparently," Bobby said tersely. He was beyond frustrated. He looked at Sam. "I don't suppose you've been able to come up with anything?" 

"Nothing," Sam said, frowning. "There's nothing in the lore that's even remotely helpful. He must have been laying low before today. There hasn't been anything in the news or on the Internet to even suggest the onset of Armageddon." 

"So what's he waiting for?" Ethan said. There was something hinky going on here, in his opinion. His cop instincts were kicking in now, and they told him that Lucifer had been planning something this whole time. The Devil was sly; sneaky. He wasn't going to climb up a tower and start shooting, and he wasn't going to fly planes into buildings. His campaign would be a lot more subtle and insidious than that. In fact, Ethan had been surprised that Lucifer had shown up to where Cas and Gail had been, to face them directly. That didn't seem like his style, at least not so soon after his escape. Any time a long-term prisoner escaped, his first instinct was always to savour his freedom. Have a steak and a drink, get a girl. Revenge was frequently on the list, but a little further down. 

Ethan looked at Bobby. "I thought the plan was to deploy the Angels in separate cities," he said. 

"Yeah, it was," Bobby replied. "What about it?" His tone was irritable, but he couldn't help it. Crowley had seemed genuinely sorry about Gail, and he had persuaded Bobby to let him come and apologize to her in person. But then the little smartass had to go and rile Cas up by making that comment. Then again, Bobby hadn't really been any better, when he'd said what he'd said to Cas in the heat of anger earlier. He should have let Cas pop Crowley one. Then at least Bobby wouldn't be the only one with a sore jaw right now. 

"Then, what was Cas doing there with Gail?" Ethan persisted. 

That was right, Gail thought. She had been attacked by the human would-be robbers after she had talked to Dean. Ethan's group would have been out of the loop on that development. She told them about that incident now, advising that Cas had come to Vegas to be there with her and protect her after that. 

Frank was angry. His sister had been attacked twice in two days? He glared at Bobby. 

"I see you, Frank," Bobby told him, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. "Those guys were humans. Stuff happens. But as soon as that happened, Cas was there for her, and he stayed there with her from then on." 

Frank sat back in his chair, frowning. "Yet here she is, basically hamburger meat," he fumed. 

That got Cas like a stab to the heart. Frank wasn't wrong, but it hurt like hell to hear him say that. 

But Bobby was lost in thought now. "Gail wasn't originally supposed to go to Las Vegas, though," he said slowly. 

Cas looked at him sharply. "What? What do you mean?" 

Bobby sighed. "Look, I know you all thought I was being a dick to send her there. But I had my reasons for switching her and Kevin." 

"So Kevin was originally supposed to go to Vegas?" Dean said incredulously. "And what do you mean, 'supposed to go'? Aren't you the one who's making the decisions here?" 

Bobby sighed. He told them about his meeting with Matthew, and his subsequent decision to switch the two. 

"Well, that proves that there's something fishy going on," Chuck said. "Lucifer just suddenly shows up out of the blue to get Cas and Gail? Obviously, Matthew told him!" 

"But Matthew would have thought it was Kevin in Las Vegas," Sam argued. "Bobby switched them up on his own. So Lucifer wouldn't have known it was Cas and Gail who were there." 

Cas was shaking his head. "None of that makes any sense," he said. "I've known Matthew for years. I've played chess with him. Why would he be in league with Lucifer?" 

"Maybe you don't know him as well as you think you do," Ethan said. 

Castiel thought about that. He knew that people were not always what they seemed, and Angels were obviously no exception. But, Matthew was one of the authors of the Gospels. It was unthinkable. 

Bobby was frowning. "I think a little chat with our friend Matthew might be in order. Why don't you come with me, Cas?" he said. "Maybe that temper of yours could come in handy." 

Cas almost smiled. If Matthew was working against them, Cas and his blade would find out. He needed an outlet for his anger over what had happened to Gail and confronting a possible traitor to Heaven could be just the thing. "I'd be happy to," he told Bobby with a cold smile. 

Gail shuddered inwardly. She wouldn't like to be Matthew, if he was a traitor. But, she wondered the same thing. Why would an exalted Angel like that be working with Lucifer? "How well do you know him?" she asked Cas. 

"Well enough, or so I thought," Castiel told her. "He's had one of the honour suites in Heaven for untold centuries, practically since the dawn of Creation. I used to visit him a fair amount. We would play chess and have long conversations. That's why I can't believe he would do something like that. Surely in all that time, I would have been able to tell." 

"People can fool you sometimes," Chuck pointed out. "Look at how I used to be." He kind of hated to remind everybody of that, but he felt bad for Cas. Chuck could see that what had happened to Gail was eating Cas alive. And now, if it turned out that Matthew was an agent of Lucifer's, Cas would be blaming himself for that, too. 

"What about the other guys?" Dean asked suddenly. 

"What other guys?" Cas said to him. 

"The other guys who wrote the Gospels," Dean answered. "Mark, Luke, and John." Here they were, talking about the Bible again. For a book that was supposedly largely fictional, a lot of stuff that was written in there was turning out to be real. Maybe he'd better thake a peek at the Commandments again, see how many of them he was currently breaking. You know, just to be on the safe side. 

Cas frowned again. "John turned against us. He went to Crowley and served as his assistant for a number of years. He's dead now. Rowena killed him." 

Gail's mouth dropped open. "John? Was that the guy who was injecting me when Crowley was holding me there?" 

"Yes," Castiel said tersely. 

"I'm glad he's dead, then," Gail said viciously. A writer of the Gospels, working for the King of Hell. It was enough to make you sick. Maybe Matthew WAS evil, after all. 

"Luke and Mark both vanished after that," Castiel told the group. "No one knows what became of them. I never made the acquaintance of either one of them when they were in Heaven." 

"Great," Dean said sarcastically. "So we've got one dead Demon, one possible mole in Heaven, and two more guys who could be anywhere, who may or may not be working for Lucifer. Fantastic." 

Bobby had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. Like things weren't screwed up enough. He stood up. "OK, let's go, Cas. Everybody stay here until we get back. Hopefully, we'll have a lot more information then." 

"Oh, we will," Cas said. His blood was starting to boil. When he was done with Matthew, they would know his deepest, darkest secrets. Cas would make sure of it. He turned to Gail. "I'll see you soon," he told her. "You'll have lots of people here to take care of you in the meantime." He looked at Frank, and at Sam and Dean. "Don't let her overdo it," he said sternly. 

Sam smirked. "Okay, Dad." 

Cas's lips twitched. But he didn't want to feel amused now; he wanted to hang onto his anger, so that he could interrogate Matthew properly. But he did lean down and kiss Gail on the forehead. "I love you," he said softly. 

She smiled. It was amazing how he could be so tender with her and yet so fierce with their enemies at the same time. He kind of reminded her of the big cats in the Secret Garden. And he was just as mysterious, too. Imagine him visiting with one of the actual writers of the Gospels. What had they talked about? She could visualize him sitting there studying the chess board, figuring out his next move. Cas was a lot smarter, a lot more cerebral than anyone seemed to give him credit for. She herself had never had the patience for chess, but maybe she should ask him to play it with her sometime. She smiled to herself. He was likely really good at it, though. Maybe she would have to blow him kisses across the board to distract him, or something. 

Castiel walked over to where Bobby stood, and they winked out of the bunker. 

"Boy, I wouldn't want to be Matthew right now," Chuck quipped, and they all laughed. 

"Anybody want a drink?" Dean asked. Frank and Jody raised their hands, and so did Kevin, prompting them all to laugh again. Even Linda smiled. But Kevin was only half joking. He'd been terrified to realize how close he had come to facing Lucifer alone. He had no way of knowing how close he had actually come, of course. He had already forgotten about the students he had followed to the hotel, and he hadn't bothered to mention it to anyone. He had been intending to tell Bobby, but when Kevin had heard the shocking news about Gail, the strange incident had fallen by the wayside. 

Chuck came around the table to sit in the seat that Cas had just vacated. "Are you going to be OK, Gail?" he asked her. She looked pale, and now that Cas had gone, the pain was evident on her face. 

"Yeah," she told him, but she was gritting her teeth. "I may have to ask Sam for another pill, though." 

"That's it," Sam said, frowning at her. "You're going back to your room, right now. I'll bring you another pill once we get you settled." 

She tried to protest. Everyone had just gotten here, and she hadn't had the chance to hear any stories yet. But there was no help to be had anywhere. 

"I know you're trying to be brave for Cas," Chuck said to her. "But how do you think he would feel if he came back and found you slumped over the table, gasping in pain? And how do you think I would feel?" 

"You?" she asked him, puzzled. 

"Yes, me!" he said with a smile. "I'd rather face Lucifer than an angry Cas, if he finds out we didn't make you get some rest. And I'm a coward, as you well know." 

"Don't make me laugh, Chuck, it hurts too much," Gail said to him, grinning widely. 

He kissed her on the forehead. "Maybe don't tell him I did that, either," Chuck said, but he was smiling, too. "I'm just so damn glad you're OK, Gail," he said fervently. 

She was touched. "Thanks, Chuck. Me too," she said in a small voice. Then she looked up at Sam. "OK, Sam. I think I do need a rest, actually." 

Frank had stood from his chair too, and he looked across Gail at Chuck, giving him the thumbs-up. Chuck had known just the right thing to say to her; he had invoked the magic word: Cas. Frank would have just picked her up and carried her to bed, kicking and screaming. But it was obvious that her sun and her moon rose with Cas, and Frank didn't really mind that. Cas was a quality guy, and from what Frank could see, Gail was his number-one priority. And that was the best you could hope for, for your little sister. 

Chuck brought the wheelchair over to the table, and Frank lifted Gail from her chair and put her in the wheelchair. 

"Goodnight, everybody," Gail said, and Sam wheeled her out of the room, with Frank trailing closely behind. When they got to her room, Frank lifted her out of the wheelchair and laid her on the bed, then pulled the covers over her. Sam took the wheelchair from the bedside and folded it up, putting it by the door. "I'll go get your pill," he said, and left the room. 

Frank sat on the edge of the bed and smoothed Gail's hair back off her forehead. "This reminds me of when I used to tuck you in, when you were just a kid," he said softly. "Remember?" 

"Of course I do," Gail responded. "Then I would go right to sleep, and when I woke up, you would be there." Even at that age, she had known that he went out Hunting sometimes, but Gail also knew that he would always be there in the morning when she woke up. She sighed. "I wish I could go to sleep right now." 

Frank pulled the covers around her, tucking her snugly in like he had all those years ago. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "I wish you could too, kiddo." 

"I love you, Frank," she told him. "I don't say that enough." 

"Well, maybe if we could be in the same place for more than ten minutes, we could say it more," he said, smiling. "But I'm glad you've got Cas. If you have to be with any guy, I'm happy that it's him." 

Tears sprang to her eyes. "Thanks, Frank. It means a lot to me to hear you say that," she said. She sniffled, then smiled at her brother. "I'll tell you what. When this whole thing is over, we'll have you over for dinner, and you guys can get to know each other better. I know we haven't spent very much time together, and I'm sorry about that. That's what you get when you hang around with Angels, I guess." 

"Well, with you two, anyway," he teased her. "Who knew that you would grow up to be such a troublemaker?" 

"Hey, I don't go looking for trouble, it comes looking for me," Gail pointed out, and Frank nodded. He supposed she was right about that. 

Just then, Sam came into the room. He'd actually been waiting out in the hallway, but he had wanted to give them a moment. They'd hardly even seen each other since Cas and Gail had gotten out of their last mess at the cabin. 

He handed the pill and the glass of water to Frank, who thanked him. Frank turned back to Gail. "Incoming," he said, moving the pill towards her mouth. 

Gail rolled her eyes. "Oh my God, Frank. I'm a grown woman. I'll smack that pill right out of your hand." 

Frank smiled. "That's the sister I know and love," he said. "Here you go, then." He handed her the pill, and he put the glass of water on the nightstand. Then he kissed her on the forehead. "See you in the morning." Frank rose from the bed and grinned at Sam. "She's gonna be OK." 

Frank left the room, and Sam looked down at Gail. "Sam?" she said. 

"Yeah?" he responded. 

"Can you give me a hand here? I only have one arm, you know," she said to him. 

He grinned. Gail. She was one of a kind. He sat down on the bed and took the pill from her hand, putting it in her mouth. Then he picked up the glass of water and put it to her lips. She grabbed it and drank from it, washing the pill down. 

"Thanks, Sam," she said, giving him back the glass. "I just had to give Frank a hard time. He was getting a little mushy there." 

Sam was still smiling. "I hear you. And, speaking of which, I'll let Cas know you're here when he gets back." 

"OK, Sam." She closed her eyes. "I'll be awake, of course. But hopefully, I'll be very stoned." 

"Goodnight, Gail," he said softly, and he rose from the bed. He paused at the door, debating. Then he turned off the light and closed the door behind him. 

Castiel and Bobby stood outside the door to Matthew's suite. They had agreed on a plan before they got there; Bobby would be the "good cop", and if necessary, Castiel would be the "bad cop". Cas didn't have a problem with that. If it turned out that Matthew had sent Lucifer after them, his old friend would find out that Castiel could be a very bad cop, indeed. 

Bobby knocked on the door, and the two Angels waited. Although they both strongly suspected now that Matthew had betrayed them, they still had no concrete proof, and Matthew was an exalted member of Heaven. So they would grant him the courtesy of asking him for an explanation, first. But if he could not provide them with satisfactory answers, Bobby had given Cas the green light to be as intimidating as he needed to be. 

But Matthew did not answer the door. Bobby knocked louder. Still no answer. Bobby and Cas exchanged glances, and Cas moved back a few steps as Bobby extended his arm, blasting the door open. 

They rushed into the apartment and saw Matthew, laying on the floor. His throat and wrists were slashed, and there was a note pinned with an Angel blade to his chest, written in what looked like blood. Bobby walked closer, looking down at the note. "'Forgive me, Father'," he read aloud. 

Cas stood behind Bobby, looking down at Matthew's bloody vessel. He was stunned. My God. How could he have been so stupid? 

He turned to look at the table. The chess set was still there, as it had always been. He had spent so many nights here, playing this game and conversing with Matthew. Castiel had been lonely and out of sorts before being designated to rescue Dean Winchester from Hell. He'd been a misfit in Heaven; scorned by his peers, neglected by God, and deemed unapproachable by junior Angels. Matthew had befriended him, and Castiel had been grateful for his company. 

Cas walked over to the table and swept the chess set off of it with both arms. "Traitor!" he yelled. He stood there, breathing heavily, his pulse pounding in his ears. 

Bobby gave Cas a minute to try to calm down, then he said, "Well, I guess we have our answer." 

Cas turned around. "Yes, but we haven't been able to get any information, have we?" he said quietly. 

Bobby let out a frustrated breath. "Let's search the place," he said. "Maybe we'll get lucky." 

Cas laughed shortly. "When have we ever gotten lucky, Bobby?" he said bitterly. 

But Bobby had nothing to say about that, mainly because Cas was right. 

It was late when Cas finally got back to the bunker. His human friends had gone to bed, and the Angels were all sitting morosely around the table. 

Chuck looked at Cas and opened his mouth to speak, but he snapped it shut again when he saw the look on Cas's face. 

"We'll talk in the morning," Cas said to the group, and he walked through the library and down the hall. He stood in front of Gail's door for a moment, took a couple of deep breaths, and opened the door. 

He was surprised to find that the room was dark. "Gail?" he called out softly. 

"I'm here, Cas," she answered. "Sam turned off the light when he left the room. Humans. They just don't get it." 

He could hear the faint smile in her voice. He left the light off and walked to the bed. His eyes were already adjusting to the dark, and he could see her laying against the pillows. 

"How are you feeling?" Cas asked her. 

"Never mind that, what happened with Matthew?" Gail asked him. 

Cas sighed. "He's dead." 

"What?" she exclaimed. Then she clapped her hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to say it that loud. "What happened, Cas?" she said, more quietly. "You didn't - " 

"No, I didn't," he said sharply. "He was dead when we got there. He committed suicide." 

Gail was shocked. "Oh, Cas," she said softly. 

"I feel so betrayed," Cas said to her. "I thought he was my friend." 

Gail's heart hurt for him. She couldn't quite make out his face, but she could hear the pain in his voice. Even though the movement hurt her, she shifted her body over. "Come here," she said to Cas. "Come and lay down with me." 

"No," he said. "You're in too much pain." 

"So are you," she said. "Come here," she repeated. 

He took off his shoes and then lay down beside her, moving slowly so as not to make the bed move too much. 

Gail felt for his hand and grabbed it, bringing it up to touch her face. Then she kissed it softly. 

"I'm so sorry, Cas," she said. 

"I feel so stupid," he told her in an anguished voice. "All those years I knew him, and I never once thought..." His voice trailed off. 

"It hurts when someone you thought was your friend betrays you," Gail said. 

He looked at her sharply. Her head was turned in his direction, but he couldn't quite read her expression. Why would she say that? But of course, she wasn't talking about him. She was talking about Matthew, having betrayed Cas. Giving him her sympathy. Telling him she understood how he felt. But everything he heard lately sounded to his ears like an accusation. Matthew must have felt the same way just before he'd taken his blade to himself. At least he'd had the decency to feel guilt at the end, Castiel thought. And really, was Cas any better? He had served the dark side too, and that was going to haunt him for the rest of his days. 

"Yes, it does," he told Gail. 

"It's not your fault," Gail said. She knew he would blame himself for not knowing about Matthew. 

If she said that one more time, Cas was going to...what? What was he going to do? Scream? Go nuts? End up like Matthew? 

"Please don't say that any more, Gail," he said. "I can't bear it." 

Gail frowned. "You take too much on yourself," she told him. 

Cas closed his eyes in frustration. He wished she wouldn't say things like that. If she only knew. She was the one who had taken too much. From their enemies, from God, and especially, from him. 

"Do you mind if we don't talk for a while?" he said softly. "I just need to think, for a time." 

"Sure, Cas, I understand," Gail said to him. "I love you." 

He propped himself up on one elbow and leaned down to kiss her softly on the mouth. "And I love you," he said. "Though I haven't always shown it." 

He laid back down, staring up at the ceiling. Gail's eyes narrowed. What had he meant by that, now? He showed her he loved her all the time. But she let it go. She could tell he was really upset about Matthew. Gail could read between the lines. She knew that Castiel had been a solitary figure for most of his existence, and he didn't seem all that comfortable in Heaven. For some reason, it seemed as if a lot of his peers had ostracized him for centuries. Matthew had probably shown him a bit of kindness, and he was likely one of the very few Angels who had. Her heart broke when she thought about that. It had taken just about forever, but she was glad that Cas had met Sam and Dean, and Bobby. His friendship with them had transformed him, and he had finally blossomed once he had come here to Earth. He had no idea how special he was, because no one had ever told him how special he was. 

"I'm sorry, I know you don't feel like talking," she said to him. "And that's OK. But I need to tell you something, and I need you to hear me. You are the most special, most wonderful individual I have ever met. There's nothing wrong with you, Castiel. It's everyone else who's wrong, because they don't appreciate how special you really are." 

Tears were streaming down his face now. It was so wonderful to hear her say that, but so terrible at the same time. Oh, he was special, all right. "I hope you will always feel that way," he said. 

Gail could hear that he was crying, and she felt even worse for him now. He probably just wanted to mourn his friend, and here she was, babbling, after he'd pleaded for quiet. She knew that it was hard for men to cry without feeling mysteriously embarrassed about it. Cas had cried in front of her before, but she should just leave him be for now and let him deal with it in his own way. So she sought out his hand again and put hers in it, and they laid there like that for the rest of the night in silence. 

In the morning, Cas released Gail's hand and leaned over her. He could see her face now, and she was looking at him with sympathy in her eyes. He had been wrestling with himself and with his conscience all night. He should just tell her now and take the consequences. But how could he do that to her? Wasn't she in enough pain right now? Still, it wasn't fair to her. He shouldn't let her go on like this, wondering what was wrong with her mind. But she loved him again, and so did everyone else now. Was he really this selfish? But even Bobby had said for him to keep his mouth shut. On and on it had gone, back and forth, all night long. And she had lain there quietly the whole time, holding his hand and giving it the occasional squeeze to let him know that she was there for him, supporting him in his supposed grief. And he did grieve for Matthew, but his grief stemmed more from a sense of lost innocence than anything else. He had naively thought that Matthew had liked him. But he could picture Matthew now, sneering after Castiel had left his suite after one of their evenings together. What a sucker he had been. In his thirst for any sort of kindness from one of his fellow Angels, Castiel had turned a blind eye to any possible warning signs. He had gone over and over their conversations, and he now recalled something that Matthew had said during one of their debates: "Satan himself masquerades as an Angel of Light. And his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness." Castiel hadn't thought that remark peculiar at the time. They had been having one of their lively theological debates, and when Matthew had said that, Castiel did not disagree. But had Matthew either consciously or subconsciously been trying to convey a message of some sort? Or was Cas reaching, trying to pick out something, anything, that would support his feelings of guilt for not having known that Matthew was a traitor? And where WERE Luke and Mark, anyway? They should probably add the Gospel writers to their list of beings to find. If they couldn't locate Lucifer himself, maybe they could get some answers from them. 

"Good morning," Gail said softly. 

"Good morning," Cas replied. "How are you feeling?" 

"About the same," she said, giving him a half-shrug. "How are YOU feeling?" 

"About the same," he echoed. But it wouldn't be fair to take his mood out on her. She had enough to deal with at the moment. 

He leaned down and kissed her on the mouth, and she kissed him back. His tongue poked through her lips, grazing the tip of her tongue. Then he pulled back. 

"Are you in pain?" Cas asked her. 

"I can't feel a thing at the moment," Gail said, smiling. Then she added teasingly, "Well, that's not entirely true. But no pill's going to fix that." 

He couldn't help but smile. "Do you want me to stop?" 

"No, of course not," she replied, still smiling. "I may be an invalid at the moment, but I can still make out." 

So he kissed her again, and Gail opened her mouth immediately. They kissed like that for several minutes, and then Cas pulled back. "I'd better stop now," he told her. 

"Why?" she asked him. 

He lifted an eyebrow to her. "I should think that would be obvious. Or, it soon will be," he said dryly. 

Gail looked down at him, then back at his face. "Oh," she said. "Right." She had been feeling something too, but women had the distinct advantage there, she thought with some amusement. It was obvious with a man; but with a woman, you couldn't tell unless she wanted you to know. She continued, "Well, I still have one working hand..." she started to say, half-kidding. 

"No," he said sharply. 

"Why not?" she asked him, smiling mischievously. 

"Because, we're not..." He stopped, then he tried again. "There won't be any activity of that sort until you're properly healed." 

He seemed agitated, now. "OK, Cas," she said meekly. "I just didn't want you to have to do without, just because I have to." 

Cas looked at her, open-mouthed. Could she really be that selfless? "I did without for aeons, because I was waiting for you," he told her. "What's a few months? Even a few years?" He kissed her again, but it was a chaste kiss. "However long it takes. I don't care. But when you're able, it'll be me making you feel good. Not the other way around." 

"You're sexy when you're stern," she quipped. 

Cas smiled. Her and her humour. He supposed he had been giving her a bit of a lecture. But there was no way he could allow her to do anything like that, even though he loved feeling her touch. His face turned serious again. "I hope you don't think that I require...that...to be happy," he said to her. "Just being with you makes me happy. There's so much more to us than just that." 

"I know, Cas," she said, touching his face. "I didn't mean to upset you." 

"You didn't," he said quickly. "I just..." He was frustrated now, unable to express himself. He turned around, rising from the bed. Still looking at her, he waved his arm, and after the blue glow faded away, he was holding a bouquet of red roses. 

Gail's jaw dropped open. This was a new wrinkle. Just like what he had done in the Secret Garden, and yesterday, with Crowley. "Where did that come from?" she asked him an amazement. 

"I was saving it for a special occasion," he told her. 

"Really? And what's the occasion?" she asked him, bemused. 

"We're together, and we're in love," Cas replied. "I can't think of a better occasion than that." He extended the roses to her. "Red roses signify love, beauty, courage, respect, and passion. Just a few of the many qualities in you that I admire, and the many ways I feel about you." She took the roses with her uninjured hand and cradled them to her body, inhaling their fragrant scent. "There are 11," Cas continued. "Eleven roses, to assure the recipient that they are truly and deeply loved." He waved his hand again, and now he held a single white rose. "A single rose of any colour depicts utmost devotion. And it's white, signifying reverence, and purity." He leaned forward and inserted the white rose into the middle of the bouquet. 

Gail smiled up at him. "I don't know what to say, Cas." 

"You don't have to say anything," he said softly. 

"But I want to," she protested. "That's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard in my life." 

He smiled again, touching her face. "It's the way I feel." 

Gail started to cry, and Cas looked alarmed. "Don't be upset," she told him. "It's a happy cry. I'm just wondering how I ever got so lucky." 

Lucky? She had to be kidding. Look at her. "I'm the one who's lucky," he told her. He leaned forward again, kissing her on the forehead. "Let me put these in water for you." He scooped the roses from her arms and turned to leave the room. Then he turned back to look at her again. "Everything I do is because I have your best interests at heart," he said to her. "Please remember that." Then he left the room. 

Gail lay there, watching him leave. That had been a bit of a weird thing to say. Sweet, like everything else he'd said, but...it had had a tone to it that made her wonder. What could he be talking about? 

The humans were in the weapons room. All four had been in the kitchen having coffee, and Dean had mentioned that he wanted to go see what they had in stock. "I want to load up a bit more," he'd told them. "Now that one Demon has attacked a member of the family, if one of those bastards even looks at one of us sideways, he's going down." 

Frank smiled grimly. He felt the same way. And if they did have to kill a few Demons, maybe their King would show up to protest that, and he and Frank could have a little chat about Gail. Frank didn't care what his sister said, he had a few questions of his own about the attack on Gail. He hoped Cas could come with them this time around. Cas's hatred of Crowley had been magnificent to behold. Maybe he and Cas could team up together to dispatch the King of Hell, if the other Angels or even the Winchesters didn't have the sack to do it. Frank liked Sam and Dean a lot, but he didn't understand why they hadn't killed Crowley long before now. He knew they'd known him for a number of years now, and that they often found themselves in his company. OK, they were humans; maybe they'd tried, and failed. But what about Cas? He'd had eons to get his revenge on his Brother for killing him in the Garden. Funny, Frank had always been taught that Crowley and Castiel's parents, Adam and Eve, had been tossed out of the Garden as soon as they'd eaten the forbidden fruit, and then lied to God about it. Apparently, God hated lying more than anything else. Had they snuck back in afterwards? Or was this a different Garden they were talking about? And was Lucifer the snake who had tempted them? All of this stuff was making his head spin. 

"I'll come with," Jody said to Dean. "I've been handling way too many books and not enough weapons lately." 

Sam tended to agree, although he did enjoy the research aspect as well. But now that Gail was going to be staying here, maybe Sam would ask Bobby if Jody could go out on the road with the guys. Gail would be a better research partner, anyway. She was intelligent and well-read, and she would have more patience for research than Jody did. Sam had chafed at being left behind, but he was glad that he had been now, because he would be able to take care of Gail. If Cas couldn't be here, or Frank, Sam was the next best candidate. He loved her like she was his own sister. OK, maybe deep, deep down, he had a couple of stronger feelings for her than that. But he would never even think of acting on them, not in a million years. Gail and Cas were the most loving couple he had ever seen, and Cas treated her like a queen. So if Sam carried a metaphorical torch for her, he would pass it to Cas the instant he came back to the bunker. Every time. 

They brought their coffees down the hall to the weapons room and stood around, admiring the cache of different weapons the Winchesters had managed to accumulate over the years. 

Jody reached for one of the guns at the same time as Frank, and their hands touched. He smiled at her for a moment, then withdrew his hand, leaving her to pick up the gun. 

"You have good taste," Frank said to her. 

"In weapons? Yeah, I guess I do," Jody said. They were still staring at each other. In guys, not so much, Jody thought, but did not say out loud. But, maybe her luck was changing now. It had been quite a while since a guy had looked at her like Frank was looking at her now. Like an equal, but also like a woman. Interesting. She'd been itching to go out on the road and help the guys, and maybe she would get her chance now that Gail was here. Then she and Frank could get to know each other better, and she could see if there was anything there, other than just a momentary spark across a weapons table. 

Ethan came into the room. "Bobby just called us on Angel Radio," he told them. "He said to tell you he'll be down shortly. He said something about having arrangements to make." 

"Thanks, Ethan," Dean said absently. He had just picked up another gun, one he didn't recognize at first glance. 

Ethan approached the table, fascinated. He'd seen weapons in here when they'd been training, but he hadn't wanted to lose focus at the time. But now, he couldn't resist. He began to pick a few of them up from the table and look at them more closely. 

Dean was showing the gun he had in his hand to Sam. "Where did this one come from?" he asked his brother. 

"Let me see," Sam said, reaching across the table. Dean handed him the gun and Sam turned it over in his hands. Then it hit him. "This is the gun that Oliver had, at the fair. He pulled it on Cas and Gail, remember?" He smirked. "I guess he wasn't too psychic that day. Threatening Angels with a gun? But then again, he is an Atheist." 

He shook open the chamber where the bullets were. "I wonder if there's something special about this gun. It looks pretty ordinary, though." He dumped the bullets out into his hand. "Huh," Sam said, squinting at the bullets. "This is interesting." 

"What is?" Dean said absently, looking at a Demon knife. They had quite a few; maybe he would just throw them all in the trunk, on general principles. 

"I'd need my magnifying glass to be sure," Sam said, still squinting at the bullets, "but I think these bullets have pentagrams carved into them." 

Dean's head snapped up. Crap. Why had Sammy gone and opened the stupid gun, anyway? 

"The plot thickens," Sam said cheerfully. "I always knew that Oliver was a bit of a nutcase, but he was not only barking up the wrong tree on this one, he was in the wrong forest. These would only kill Demons. Guess we'll take this gun with us, too. Thanks, Oliver." 

"Give me that thing," Dean said hastily. 

"Why?" Sam said. "I'll just put it in the trunk for you, after I finish looking at it." 

"I want it now, Sam," Dean said, raising his voice. 

Sam looked at his brother, puzzled. "What's your problem, Dean?" 

"No problem. Just give it here," Dean demanded. He knew that the more of a stink he raised, the more suspicious Sam would get. But Dean didn't want Sam to handle that gun for too long, nor to start forming ideas about why Oliver might be pointing a gun that was loaded with Demon-killing bullets at Cas. Especially not in front of this audience. He was likely overreacting, though. As far as Dean could see, none of them remembered one single moment of Cas's having been a Demon. But Cas had advised Dean that Gail was regaining bits and pieces of her memory, and Gail had said the same thing herself. So Dean didn't want to take any chances. 

"You're being weird, Dean," Sam said, but he handed the gun over, after replacing the bullets in the chamber. Dean grabbed it from his hand, put the safety on, then tucked it into his belt under his shirt. 

"Now, quit wasting time," Dean snapped. "I want to have Baby loaded up by the time Bobby gets here." 

As Sam continued to stare at his brother and Frank and Jody exchanged glances, Ethan's hand froze over the weapons table. That hinky feeling again. Why would this guy, whoever he was, have pulled a Demon gun on his Angel friends? 

Ethan quizzed Sam and Dean for details on the incident. Like Sam, Ethan thought the whole thing made no sense. Why would a human who was not a Hunter be carrying around a Demon gun? And what would prompt him to pull it on a couple of Angels? 

"What did this guy Oliver do? What did he say?" Ethan asked Sam, shifting into interrogation mode. 

Sam thought back. "He had the gun on Gail when we got there. Then he looked at Cas, and he didn't seem surprised to see him, almost like he knew him, or something. Oliver told them that there were special bullets in the gun. Then Cas said something about them not being who he thought they were. Like it was a case of mistaken identity. But then Oliver shot Cas anyway. Then we hustled the girls out of the tent, and when we got back, Cas was healing Oliver. He'd shot himself after failing to kill Cas, apparently. After Cas healed him, he took off. So, we never did find out why he went so psycho. I was planning to try to find out more about that when we got back, but then Lucifer escaped, and Oliver dropped way down on the list of priorities." 

Ethan was trying to make sense of Sam's story. So this guy Oliver pulls a gun on Gail, for some unknown reason, then Cas shows up, and Oliver acts like he's not surprised. "Did Oliver know Cas and Gail from before?" he asked Sam. 

"No, that's just it," Sam replied, his brow furrowing. "They'd never met. I used Oliver a couple of times for investigations, but I never took Cas there, and that was before we even met Gail." 

Hmmm. "And Oliver's a human?" Ethan said. "Not any kind of otherworldly being?" 

Sam laughed shortly. "Yeah. Definitely a human." 

Now Ethan's brow furrowed in concentration. A human. If he'd been an Angel, or a Demon, that could explain why he knew Cas and Gail. But no otherworldly being would try to kill an Angel with a gun, especially a gun with pentagram bullets. He continued to think about it. So then Sam and Dean had left the tent, and when they came back, Oliver was shot. Ethan had that hinky feeling again. Had Cas shot him, and then claimed that Oliver had shot himself? No, that was crazy. Or was it? Cas had killed Lanister in Heaven's prison, and then he had planted the Angel blade on the cell floor beside Lanister and lied to Ethan, claiming the murder had been in self-defense. He had come clean about what had really happened shortly afterwards, but still, the incident had left a bad taste in Ethan's mouth. And then, after Jason had been taken into custody, Cas had paid him a visit and allegedly tortured the crap out of him, for some reason. But Ethan only had Jason's word for that, though. He himself had not witnessed anything like that. Here now was another violent incident where Cas was involved. But he was a good guy. God's right hand. Something didn't add up here. Cas was a complex individual; but there was one common thread that seemed to run through all of these occurrences, and that was Gail. Lanister had threatened to have Gail tortured, Jason had actually tortured her and wouldn't have hesitated to do it again, and this guy Oliver had apparently been waving a gun in Gail's face when Cas got there. And look at what had happened with Crowley yesterday. Cas had gone ape on the King of Hell on just the mere suspicion that Crowley might have had something to do with the attack on Gail. So it wouldn't surprise Ethan one bit if Cas had shot Oliver to protect Gail. But then, he had healed him. Had Cas felt guilty about what he had done? Had he lied to his best friends about it, just as he had lied to Ethan after murdering Lanister? Maybe Ethan was talking to the wrong people. He should probably be talking to Cas. Or Gail. Would she cover up for him, though? Very possibly. And, did Ethan even need to be investigating this? After all, everyone was all right. Still, Ethan had the feeling that something was going on, and he was the head of Law Enforcement in Heaven now, a promotion that his friend Castiel had suggested to Bobby. Ethan would have to think about this some more. 

Cas brought the flowers back to the bedroom in a vase, and he carried it to the nightstand. "Now you'll be able to look at them and enjoy their fragrance whenever you're resting," he said to Gail. "Which, hopefully, will be often," he added pointedly. 

"Yeah, yeah," she said, waving her arm. "We'll see. But I've rested all night, and now I want to wash up and spend a bit of time with our friends." 

"At your service," Cas said, smiling. He gave her a small bow, then walked over to the door to get the wheelchair. He brought it to the bedside as Gail struggled to sit up. Damn those stomach muscles. Well, the doctor did say it would hurt her to move. But she'd been hoping it wouldn't hurt quite this much. 

Cas rushed to help her, and in his haste, his hip bumped against the nightstand. When Gail had put the water glass she'd used to take her pill the night before back on the nightstand, she had accidentally placed it halfway on the base of the lamp, and it tipped over now and broke. Gail was sitting on the edge of the bed now, and a few of the shards of broken glass fell onto the bed beside her. 

"Oh, crap," she said, and she started to pick them up with her hand. 

"Let me do that," Cas admonished her. 

But it was already too late. She had cut her hand on one of the shards. "Ow!" Gail exclaimed. Boy, was she an idiot. Like she wasn't hurting enough already. 

Her hand was dripping with blood now, and she extended it to him. "Sorry, Cas. I should have listened to you." 

Cas took her arm and pulled her towards him so he could heal her, and another bolt of pain shot through her stomach. "Oww!" she yelled again. 

Dean was passing by in the hallway on the way to the garage when he heard her shout. The door to the room was wide open, and Dean saw Gail with a bloody hand, and Cas holding her arm. He rushed into the room and grabbed Cas, pushing him up against the wall. 

"What are you doing?" Dean yelled in his face. 

Cas got it. Dean was having a flashback. "Nothing, Dean. She cut herself, and I was just about to heal her," he said calmly. 

Dean's eyes were blazing. "I've heard that from you before." 

"This isn't like before, Dean," Cas insisted. "You know that." 

Dean let go of him. Cas was right. Cas had been cured. Dean had just freaked out there for a minute. 

He stepped away from Cas. "Sorry, man," Dean said. 

"It's all right, Dean. I understand," Cas replied. 

"Well, I don't," Gail said in a sharp tone. "What's the matter with you, Dean? What are you talking about? And, why do I have the feeling that something very similar to this has happened in this room before?" 

Both men looked at her. Holy crap, Dean thought. He had almost forgotten she was here. How the hell was he going to explain what he had just done? 

"Move aside, Dean, please," Cas said. Dean stepped out of the way and Cas took Gail's hand in both of his, healing it instantly. She was staring at his face, but he was avoiding her eyes, making a show of checking her hand. 

Gail looked at Dean, but he was avoiding her eyes, too. "Somebody had better start talking," she said irritably. 

Cas and Dean exchanged helpless glances. Neither of them could come up with a remotely plausible explanation for Dean's behaviour. 

"There's something going on, and I want to know what it is," Gail said, raising her voice. "Too much strange stuff is happening. I've got all these weird pictures in my head, and I don't know what they mean! And don't keep telling me it's PTSD, because I don't believe it!" She was shouting now, but she couldn't help it. She was extremely frustrated, and they still weren't talking to her. Didn't they care that she was going crazy? 

Sam and Frank came rushing into the room. "What's all the yelling about?" Sam asked. 

"You tell me!" Gail exclaimed. "Are you all in on this?" 

"In on what?" Frank said, puzzled. "What are you ranting about?" 

"I cut my hand on a piece of glass, and Cas was about to heal me when Dean came storming in here like some kind of nutbag and started yelling at Cas!" she said to Sam and her brother. 

"Why would you do that, Dean?" Sam asked his brother. Dean shrugged uncomfortably. He still had no idea what to say. 

"Nice to see he's not talking to you, either," Gail said tartly. She looked up at Cas. "But I thought you would talk to me, at least," she said to him. "Why did Dean do that, Cas?" 

"I have no idea," Cas said miserably. 

Dean glared at him. Thanks for throwing me under the bus, Cas, he thought. A bus you were driving, by the way. But there was nothing he could say, not unless he wanted to blow the whole thing up. 

"Dean's been acting weird lately," Sam said to Gail. "Come on, Dean. Let's leave them alone." He grabbed Dean by the arm and yanked him out of the room. 

Frank looked at Cas. "I'll have a talk with him, Cas," he said, and then he left the room, too. 

Gail was staring at Cas. He felt like he was going to throw up. "You have no idea," she said sarcastically. He looked at her, but he still said nothing. "So, it's going to be like that, is it?" she asked him. "All your talk about loving me and respecting me. Meanwhile, you can't even respect me enough to tell me the truth." 

"I can't, Gail," he said quietly. "I meant it when I said I have your best interests at heart. And I meant everything else I said, too." 

She continued to stare at him, waiting for him to continue. But it seemed that was all he had to say. 

"Fine," she said shortly. "Can you help me into the chair? I want to go wash up." 

Cas picked her up and put her in the wheelchair, rolling her to the bathroom. Then he walked back to the bedroom to get fresh clothing for her. She couldn't have a shower, of course, or even a bath. But he could help her wash as much of herself as she was able to with her injuries. He couldn't imagine what he was going to say to her while he was doing it, though. 

When he returned to the bathroom, he closed the door behind them and wet the washcloth he had taken from the linen closet in the hallway, then he put some soap on it. He gently washed her face, then rinsed it, and then he started to dab her face dry with a hand towel. She took it from him and dried her own face, putting the towel in her lap when she was done. 

Then he gently pulled her top off over her head, but she still didn't speak. Cas was hoping she would make some kind of teasing comment, as she normally would have done. But she didn't; she just sat there quietly and let him wash her. Then he put the fresh top on over her head and knelt by the wheelchair. 

"Gail..." he said. "Please, speak to me." 

"Why should I?" she said in a quiet voice. "You won't speak to me." She knew she was being childish, but Gail was angry. There was something going on, something very weird, and it concerned her and her memory loss. Yet the man who claimed to love her above all else, and who clearly knew something about it, wouldn't even talk to her on the subject. He seemed to be alleging it was for her own benefit, but shouldn't that be up to her to decide? Or, at the very least, shouldn't they decide it together, once he told her what it was? 

A knock on the door, followed by Sam's voice: "Bobby is here, you guys." 

Gail looked at Cas. "This isn't over," she said to him. "Once we get Lucifer, we'll be talking again. Or, I should say, YOU'LL be doing some talking. Let's go, then." 

Cas rose to his feet and opened the bathroom door, then wheeled her to the library, feeling sick inside.


	2. Abandonment Issues

Felicia served Mark and Robbie their lunch, then she sat down at the table to watch them eat. She didn't eat, of course, but she always sat down at the table with them when they did. Family time was important to her. When her father had been living here, she had served him as well, once he'd given up his Grace and become a human. They had all sat around the table talking, connecting as a family, and that had made her very happy.

But then her father had died, and now there was an empty chair at the table. Mark had been a wonderful source of support for her, but lately he had turned quiet, and he seemed preoccupied. She had tried to draw him out, but he had assured her that everything was fine.

She was talking to Mark now, asking him what he would like to do today. Robbie had the day off from school, and she thought they could take him to a museum, or the planetarium, maybe. Robbie loved science fiction, and comic books. He was a "nerd", according to the other kids, but they were smiling when they said it, so she guessed that it was all right. Or maybe he'd like to go to a movie. There was a new one about one of his comic book superheroes that she knew he'd been dying to see.

Mark perked up when she'd mentioned a family outing. He'd been trying to figure out a way to ditch his family ever since he had gotten the call this morning. Finally, his Master had called, telling him it was time to come to him. But Mark hadn't been able to bring himself to just walk out on Felicia. She would demand an explanation, and he didn't feel like seeing the hurt in her eyes when he told her the truth. He wasn't a human; he had only pretended to be one all of these years because he couldn't tell her who and what he truly was. Lucifer had asked him to go to Earth to await the Second Coming, and this was where he had been when he had met Felicia, married her, and adopted a son with her. But Mark had merely been in a holding pattern all this time, simply waiting for the day when Lucifer would call and say he needed him. Today was the day, and he had to heed the call.

Mark pushed his plate away and sat back in his chair. "You and Robbie go," he said to Felicia. "I don't feel very well. I think I'll go back to bed."

Felicia frowned. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Mark replied. "Just a little intestinal issue."

"We won't go, then," Felicia said. "I'll stay here and take care of you."

"But Mom, you promised," Robbie said.

Mark frowned now. He loved Felicia, he really did, but she smothered him sometimes. Well, he wouldn't really have to worry about that any longer, would he? Once he left, he would be gone for good. Still, he hoped they might see each other again one day. She had been sweet to him, and she was amazing in bed. Funny that an innocent Angel could be so talented in that particular area. But she had been motivated by love. She had left Heaven for him, estranging herself from her father and her fellow Angels in the process. He hadn't asked her to do it, but she'd done it anyway.  So he had married her, because he'd known that was what she had wanted. What she'd expected. Felicia had always needed the appearance of respectability, probably because her father had been such a tight-ass. Ignatius had been one of the Upper Echelon Angels, and he had raised Felicia to be holy and pure. But she had chafed at all of the restrictions that her father had imposed on her, and it hadn't taken much effort on Mark's part for her to rebel and join him here on Earth.  So Mark had married her, and several years later, they had adopted Robbie. That had been another thing that Felicia had wanted, and Mark had finally given in to her  pleading , even though he knew it would further tie him to her. But at least she would have their son now, once Mark had gone.

"There's nothing you can do for me," Mark said to her now. "You and Robbie go, have a good afternoon. How often does he get a day off school?"

Felicia looked at her son, then back at her husband. She sighed. "Okay. Go get washed up, Robbie."

Their son didn't need to be told twice. He bolted from the table and ran upstairs.

Felicia smiled at her husband. "I think he might be excited," she said. "Are you sure you'll be all right?"

Mark had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. "I'll be fine." Then he looked at her face. He would miss her. Maybe he would even miss the kid, too. Perhaps he could pop in on them  every once in a while,  once Lucifer took over Heaven. Felicia may not be speaking to him then, but who knew? He had used his powers of persuasion on her before.

"Come here," Mark said, and she came around the table. Mark pulled her down onto his lap. He put his arms around her and kissed her, pushing his tongue into her mouth. She gave him hers, and Mark slipped his hands under her top, massaging her breasts.

"Mark," Felicia said. " Robbie'll be down any minute." But she was smiling, and she wasn't pulling away.

"So?" Mark said, continuing to touch her. "Then he'll just see his parents, loving each other. You're too uptight, Felicia."

She kissed him on the cheek and then got off his lap. "Be that as it may, he's too young to be seeing that," she told him. But he was frowning now, so she leaned down and spoke softly in his ear: "Hold that thought, though. We can revisit it when he goes to bed. Assuming you're feeling better by then." She straightened up. "I'm going to hurry Robbie along. Get some rest, and we'll see you in a few hours."

Mark smiled as she left the room. No, they wouldn't. He wished they'd had a bit more time today, though. He'd love one more go-round with her. But he would be richly rewarded for his service to Lucifer, and if Felicia wouldn't have anything to do with him once she found out who Mark really was, there would be lots of other females who would.

After they left the house, Mark was just about to do the same when he paused. How would she feel when she came home to discover that he wasn't there? If he just left and she found the house empty, she would go nuts. She would probably call the police and file a Missing  Person's report, and they didn't need that kind of attention right now. Later on, it wouldn't matter; once everything had been thrown into chaos, the cops would have much bigger things to deal with. But right now, they had to keep a low profile. Lucifer was just about to establish his Ministry, and they couldn't afford the wrong kind of spotlight to be shone on them in the court of public opinion.

So he wrote her a note, and after a bit of a debate with himself, he decided to tell her the truth. How he, Matthew, Luke and John had all been courted by Lucifer around the time of Creation. Before God had cast him down, Lucifer had been recruiting heavily for his team, trying to get as many on his side as he could so he could overthrow God and take over Heaven. Mark and the other authors of the Gospels had all allowed themselves to be persuaded, but truthfully, it hadn't taken much. Even back then, their Father had been capricious, wishy-washy. Many had questioned His ability to lead, long-term. Lucifer was a strong personality, and he'd had a real charisma about him. He had been full of promises. Heaven would be much freer under his rule, he'd said. The Angels would be able to do whatever they wanted to do, as long as they  honoured and obeyed Lucifer, and Lucifer only. There was no reason why everyone couldn't win. He could give them their Fondest Desires, if they would just bow down to him. That had sounded good to Mark, and he had bought in. He was tired of sitting around, writing stories for God. He'd wanted to experience life.  So Lucifer had told him that he could go down to Earth and await the call, and experience all of the Earthly pleasures in the meantime. And it had been a similar story for the other writers of the Gospels. Mark hadn't been privy to those other meetings of course, but he was pretty sure he could surmise what had taken place. Matthew had always wanted to be venerated by his fellow Angels, so Lucifer had set him up in Heaven in grand style. Luke had always wanted to discover the mysteries of life and death, so Lucifer had installed him in the Netherworld, enabling him to meet all the high-ranking individuals who went there, and learn their secrets. John had always been attracted to the dark side of things, so Lucifer had sent him to Hell and let him wallow. But then God discovered what had been going on behind His back, and He had cast Lucifer down and put him in the cage. Meanwhile, the Gospel writers had  remained in their various posts, hoping that one day the tide would turn. They had waited an eternity, but finally, their time had come.

Mark told Felicia everything. He also said he was sorry; he did love her, but he had sworn his allegiance to Lucifer, and now it was time for him to  honour his obligation. He didn't expect her to understand, but he had to do what he had to do. If she wanted to, she could keep her bed warm for him, and he could come back to see her once Lucifer reigned high on Heaven's throne. If not, she could move on, if she chose.

He put the note on the pillows of their bed. This would be the first place she would come to when she got home, concerned for his well-being. It was really too bad that he couldn't lead a double life for a while. But Lucifer would not stand for that. Once he needed you, he needed all of you. But he had already given Mark so much, and Mark didn't mind paying a few dues in return. He hadn't been free to be himself under God's reign, but Mark was certainly free now.

He glanced at the bed once more, then winked himself out of the house.

Bobby had come down to the bunker to talk to everyone, but he really wasn't sure what he was going to say. He was at a loss as to how they were going to proceed now.

"What happened with Matthew?" Chuck asked him.

Bobby looked at  Castiel , who shrugged. "It was late when I got back last night. Not everyone was awake," he said to Bobby. Cas was miserable, preoccupied. He could feel the anger radiating from Gail. They were sitting next to each other as usual, but she had her hands in her lap, and she wasn't looking at him.

So Bobby told the group about Matthew's suicide. He and Cas had searched the suite thoroughly, but they had come up empty. "I was busy making arrangements for his funeral this morning," Bobby told them.

"Funeral?" Sam said, bemused. "He was an Angel, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, but according to the law, he still gets a state funeral. His body will be on view for a day, then taken to a crypt. His soul is probably already in the Netherworld," Bobby replied.

This was confusing to the humans, but the Angels knew all too well what he was talking about. The same arrangements had been in place for  Castiel , when he had been executed after the tribunal. Gail glanced at Chuck. She had sat beside Cas's body while he was lying in state, holding his hand, talking to him as if he were still alive. Chuck had used tough love to snap her out of it then. She looked at Cas now. She'd lost her mind when she had lost him. And now she was losing her mind again, but he was here beside her, and he was taking care of her. There had to be a logical explanation for everything that had been going on, and she was still determined to find out what it was, but maybe she was being too hard on Cas. He had been nothing but good to her and patient with her, and here she was, treating him like crap. Would she rather not have him at all? She was damn lucky that Crowley had brought Cas back from the dead; maybe she should start acting like it.

She touched Cas's arm. He looked at her, and she extended her hand to him. He took it gratefully, bringing it to his lips.

"Why would you take his body to a crypt?" Sam asked Bobby.

Bobby shrugged. "I don't know, Sam. That's just the way it's done. Cas?"

Cas was kissing Gail's hand, appealing to her with his eyes. "Please don't be angry," he said softly. "Once this is all over, we'll have that talk. I promise."

Gail sighed. "OK, Cas."

"I love you," he said quietly. Then he repeated, "Please don't be angry." He knew that she often was still angry when she said that, and that "OK" was frequently not OK. Not that he could blame her. But he hated it when she was mad at him, and he didn't think he could bear it if she stopped talking to him.

Gail sighed again. "I don't want to be mad at you, Cas. Bobby just reminded me of how I felt when it was your body I was sitting next to. I don't ever want to feel that way again."

He leaned forward to kiss her, and Bobby cleared his throat loudly. "Cas! Can you two remake 'The Notebook' on your own time?" Bobby said irritably.

"Sorry, Bobby," Cas said sheepishly, straightening up.

Bobby scowled, but Dean was smiling. He'd had all too many reminders this morning about how things were with Cas and Gail when Cas had been a Demon. Though it annoyed the crap out of Bobby, it was nice to see the two of them like this again. Back to normal, or what was normal for them, anyway. He'd take that all day long.

Bobby let out a breath. "Do you have anything you can add to this conversation, Cas? Or do you have anything in the way of an idea as to how we should proceed, here? That is, if you even know what we were talking about. Were your ears here, at least?" Now Bobby's beard twitched.

"I have no idea," Cas said in a subdued voice. "But why would you give Matthew a state funeral, Bobby? He didn't deserve one. He was a traitor."

"Yes, I know, Cas," Bobby said. "But nobody else knows, and he was one of the writers of the original Gospels. If we handled things any differently, it would arouse suspicion. If he was an inside man for Lucifer, there could be others." Bobby looked at them all. "Anything discussed in this room stays here," he said sternly. "Lucifer's got too many advantages right now as it is."

They all thought about that. Bobby wasn't kidding. It seemed like Lucifer held all the cards right now. And they had run out of ideas.

"Come here and help me with this stupid thing," Lucifer said irritably.

Aurielle walked over to Lucifer and deftly tied his necktie. She had been amused to watch him struggle with it, but she hadn't shown her amusement, of course. He was a man; shouldn't he know how to do that? But, then again, he had been an Angel since Creation, and then he had been in the cage. She herself had learned how to do it because  Castiel used to wear a suit and tie underneath his  trenchcoat . She had felt closer to him when she'd taught herself how to tie a man's tie, hoping she'd get the chance to do it for him one day.

"Thanks," Lucifer said to her. He forced himself to smile. He had to get himself into a better mood somehow. He was starting his Ministry today, and he had to project a cheerful, positive attitude. Bait and switch.

There was a knock at the dressing room door, and  Aurielle opened it to admit Mark. He entered the room and crossed over to where Lucifer stood, dropping down to his knees in front of him. "Thank you for the call, my Lord. I am here to serve you," Mark said.

Lucifer smirked at  Aurielle . "See, that's how it's done," he said to her. He looked down at Mark. "Get up," he told him. "You sure took your sweet time getting here."

Mark  rose . "I had to wait for my family to leave."

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "Well, we're your family now. Meet your sister," he said, indicating  Aurielle .

Mark looked at her. So, this was the fallen Angel who had freed his Master. "I owe you a debt of gratitude," he said to her. "In fact, we all do."

Aurielle said nothing. She was still fantasizing about tying  Castiel's tie.

Mark looked  Aurielle up and down. She had a beautiful, curvaceous body, but her face was badly scarred. That was a shame; she would be a knockout otherwise. He wondered why Lucifer hadn't healed her face. Maybe he thought the sympathy factor would come into play here. Perhaps, if Lucifer was going to present her to the public as his wife, people would like him more if he was devoted to her despite the fact that her face was extremely ugly.

"What's the plan?" Mark asked Lucifer.

"I'm going on TV," Lucifer told him. He had crossed the room to his table and he was looking over his notes, which were tucked in the pages of his Bible. "You're going to be my manager," he told Mark. "This is the first official day of my Ministry, and I'm expecting you to take me national, then international." He looked closely at Mark. "You've been here on Earth a long time now, courtesy of me, and you know how the world works. Get it done."

Mark was pleased. Lucifer was showing a lot of confidence in him by giving him such an important assignment. But truthfully, he really didn't know that much about how the world worked. He had never done an honest day's work in his entire existence. Felicia had been OK with that, because it meant that he could be home with her all the time. And she was an Angel, and a rather naive one, at that. She had never asked where he got the money to pay for everything they had, and he had never volunteered to tell her. Mark had cultivated a few humans along the way, much as Lucifer had to get his Ministry off the ground. And Mark also knew some  unsavoury characters who had provided him with money in exchange for otherworldly  favours . Mark had the powers of an exalted Angel, and he could do many things to and for humans if he chose. But all he'd really needed was his power of persuasion. Many humans didn't need to be coerced into sin; in Mark's experience, he had found that they were just waiting for someone to tell them that what they wanted to do was OK. Mark was grateful for those contacts now. They could help him help Lucifer to get started.

"Showtime," Lucifer said cheerfully, tucking his Bible under his arm, and the unholy trio left the dressing room.

Felicia stood holding Mark's note, and her mouth was open in amazement. This had to be a joke. She read it again, looking around the bedroom as if Mark were going to come popping out at any moment, laughing at his prank.

"Mom? Where's Dad?" Robbie asked from behind her.

"Go over to the  neighbours ', Robbie," Felicia said.

"What? Where's Dad?" Robbie repeated. He was bummed. First, his mother had cut their outing short, now this. He might as well have just gone to school, if this was what his day was going to be like.

Felicia whirled on him. "Robbie, go next door! Please!"

"Okay, Mom. Geez, you don't have to yell at me," Robbie grumbled. He didn't mind too much, though. He and the kids next door got along well, and they had some great comic books over there.

Felicia sat down heavily on the bed, still holding the note. My God. Her husband was in league with Lucifer, who was loosed upon the Earth? This had to be a bad dream. But Angels didn't sleep, did they? And Mark wasn't even a human, he was an Angel too, one of the original authors of the Gospels? She would have been bursting with pride if he wasn't telling her that he was basically the Devil's lieutenant. Oh, my God.

She looked down at the bed. All the things they had done together here. Her face burned with shame. But, they had loved each other. Or at least, she'd thought they did. But why had he taken up with her at all? Her father had been a high-ranking Angel, an Upper Echelon board member, but she and Mark had never talked about Heaven's politics. He hadn't seemed to care. And according to this note, Lucifer already had an insider in Heaven: Matthew.

Matthew! Felicia's eyes grew wide. She'd better alert God right away. Bobby, she amended. He'd said to call him Bobby. He and the other Angels had been so kind to her at her father's funeral. If Lucifer had a spy in Heaven, she had better let Bobby know right away. She could deal with her feelings about Mark later; this was much more important.

She no longer had access to Angel Radio, but Felicia still had a way to get a message to Bobby; the old-fashioned way. She got on her knees beside the  bed and began to pray.

Bobby heard the buzz in his head, and he motioned to the others for quiet. This was an Angel praying to him, calling him by name, so he'd better listen. Practically every human on Earth prayed to God, so he had shut that frequency off completely, leaving it open for only a handful of specifically designated humans, the ones that were in this room right now. But he'd left the Angel frequency open once they'd gotten the word that Lucifer had escaped, and he was getting a message from one of them now. And he'd better listen; he had made the announcement in Heaven that he was only to be contacted in the case of an extreme emergency when he was at the bunker.

The room fell into silence as Bobby listened to Felicia's prayer. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Felicia's husband? He had seemed OK at the funeral, and he had been so good to her, from what Bobby could tell. Bobby was starting to get really mad. This was the second time now that they'd let one of those guys slip through their fingers.

"I've  gotta go," Bobby told the group. He told them about Felicia's message. "I'll be back in a bit." He winked out immediately.

They were all quiet, shocked by the latest news. Chuck and the Angels looked at each other. Ignatius's daughter, married to one of the Devil's designates?

Castiel's head spun. Like Bobby, he was extremely upset with himself. They had looked right at Mark at the funeral, and he had looked right back at them. They had shaken hands!  Castiel felt awful for Felicia, and for their young son. Hopefully Bobby would find out something useful, something that would help them to follow Mark's trail straight to Lucifer. Lucifer might have just made a big mistake in summoning Mark to him.

Gail's head was spinning, too. "Felicia. Where do I know that name from?"

"She's Ignatius's daughter," Kevin said. "The one here on Earth, that fell in love with the human guy. Well, we thought he was one, anyway. Cas sent Ignatius to me to find out where she was."

"That's right," Gail said, remembering. "He was going to come here and try to find her. Did he?" she asked Cas. Cas nodded, but he was starting to become afraid again. This was another huge thread, and she was about to pull on it.

"Cas," Dean said suddenly. "I  wanna talk to you for a minute." He stood and gestured to his Angel friend. Cas glanced at Gail, then he stood and followed Dean down the hall.

Dean led the way to the weapons room, and he turned on Cas as soon as they got there.

"Don't tell me, let me guess," he said angrily. "Now we're supposed to come up with some kind of an excuse about Ignatius being dead, and you guys going to his funeral?"

Cas was distressed. "You heard her. She was asking about Ignatius. We can't tell her why he gave up his Grace, Dean." Cas ran his hand through his hair, panicked.

"Fantastic," Dean said sarcastically. He looked at Cas. "Why don't we just tell them all? You know it's going to come out soon, one way or the other. There's too much that happened to keep it secret. And it's getting too hard to keep it all straight. Who knows what? What aren't they supposed to know? It's getting too weird to even talk to Sam these days. He asks too many questions. He and Gail aren't stupid, you know. He hasn't said anything, but I think he's  gonna figure out some stuff pretty soon." He told Cas about the incident with Oliver's gun, and Cas frowned. Another can of worms, sprung wide open. His happy little boat had hit the iceberg, and water was  seeping in everywhere now.

"I need to pray,"  Castiel told Dean.

Dean did a double-take. "What?"

"You heard me," Cas said shortly. "I need to pray. Please leave the room."

Dean threw his hands up in disgust. Angels. "Good luck with that," he said, his voice heavy with sarcasm, and he stalked out of the room.

Gail looked at Dean when he came back into the library. "Where's Cas?"

"Praying," he said tersely.

Her forehead wrinkled. "Praying? What for?" she asked.

"For a damn miracle," Dean retorted.

"What's going on, Dean?" Gail persisted. "Why won't you tell me?"

"Ask Cas," he said uncomfortably.

"I have!" she exclaimed. "He won't tell me anything, either!"

"What's she talking about?" Frank chimed in.

"Gail's got PTSD, from what happened in the cabin," Dean said. He felt like a total dick now, but what choice did he have? Bobby was gone, and Cas had bailed on him, too. He owed them both a punch in the face.

"No, I don't!" Gail wailed. "They're telling me I do, but I don't! I keep having visions! That doesn't happen to people with PTSD!"

"It probably does," Dean insisted stubbornly.

"No, it doesn't," Sam weighed in. "People with PTSD repress things that have happened to them, not the other way around." He looked at Gail. "What kinds of visions?"

Chuck was looking at Gail now, too. Visions, huh? She wasn't having any visions; she was just remembering the way things had been. He'd bet a million dollars on it. And he'd bet a million dollars that she wouldn't want to talk about a lot of those visions in mixed company.

"Let me talk to her," he said. He walked around the table and put his hand on Gail's shoulder. "Do you mind?"

She looked up at him. "Sure, why not?" she said. "I'm willing to talk to anyone at this point, if they'll only talk to me." She waved her hand dismissively. "And none of these guys seem to give a damn." Gail was being unfair, but she didn't know that, of course. All she knew was that she didn't know much of anything right now. Her friends, her own brother, God, and the man she loved above all else were all keeping her in the dark, and she was sick of it.

Chuck winked them outside. It was a cool fall day, and Gail took a deep breath immediately, enjoying the brisk air. But then she shivered. She'd been cooped up inside, and Cas had only put a short-sleeved top on her. Goose pimples popped up on her arms. Well, the one she would see, anyway.

"I'm sorry, Gail. I just wanted us to have some privacy. And I'm sure you'll appreciate it, too," Chuck said. He took off his blazer and draped it around her shoulders, putting her right arm into the sleeve.

"Thanks, Chuck," she said. Funny, she didn't remember ever seeing Chuck wear a blazer before. She smiled. Was he trying to emulate Cas?

Chuck got down on his knees beside the wheelchair, his face close to hers. "Tell me what you've been seeing, Gail."

She looked away from him. "I don't want to tell you that, Chuck. It's too weird."

"That's why you have to tell me," Chuck persisted. "I know you can't talk about that kind of stuff to anyone else in there."

"OK, fine," she said tartly. "But what makes you think I can tell it to you?"

"Because you've done it before," Chuck told her. "We sat at that very table and had a very honest conversation about it. Just the two of us."

Gail looked at him. "See, that's just the kind of thing I'm talking about. Everyone knows what's going on but me."

"Not everyone," Chuck said.

"Whatever," she said irritably. "You're not helping, Chuck."

"Tell me what you've been seeing," he said again.

But Gail shook her head. How could she?

Chuck sighed. "Then I'LL tell YOU. You're seeing Cas with purple eyes. You're seeing yourself with bruises and red marks all over your body. And you're seeing him between your legs, with blood all over his mouth." He'd said it in a rush, just to get it out, and he hadn't been able to look her in the face when he had. But he looked at her now. "Go ahead and hit me in the face, Gail, if you need to," he said quietly.

She was open-mouthed. Chuck had just described exactly what she'd been seeing. "But that just proves I'm crazy," she said despairingly. "Is that what everybody's been hiding from me? That I'm crazy? Well, why don't you all just stick me in the looney bin, then, and be done with it? If I'm crazy, I shouldn't be just walking around free, anyway.  So to speak," she added wryly, gesturing to the wheelchair. "But why would I be seeing crap like that, Chuck? It's disgusting! OK, I might have thought that I saw Cas with purple eyes in the cabin, but as everyone can plainly see, they're blue. And the other stuff? What's wrong with me, Chuck? He's the kindest, sweetest..." Gail started to cry. "How can I even think anything like that about Cas?"

"Have you told any of this to him?" Chuck asked soberly.

"How can I, Chuck? What would he think of me? How could I hurt his feelings like that?" she wailed.

Oh, God, Chuck thought. This was bad. What was he supposed to do here? This had been a stupid idea. "Maybe he would understand," he said lamely.

"No, he wouldn't, because I don't, either," Gail said, looking away. "He's so loving, and so gentle. There's no way he would ever beat me up, and there's no way he would ever suck my blood. And I wouldn't want him to do anything like that, either. The sex is amazing, Chuck, but it's not supposed to be painful." She clapped her hand over her mouth. God, that had been embarrassing. She hadn't meant to say that.

Chuck gently removed her hand from her mouth and held it. "It's OK, Gail. I already know," he told her. "You may not remember, but you and I talked about it. And there's nothing wrong with you. Good for you guys. You're in love, aren't you?"

" Of course we are," she answered automatically.

"Well then, what's wrong with it?" Chuck said, smiling.

Gail thought about that. What WAS wrong with it?  So they were Angels, so what? They weren't hurting anybody. They did love each other, and what they did in private was nobody's business.

"You're right, Chuck," she said to him. "But, what about that other stuff?"

"You'll have to work that out yourself," Chuck said evasively. "But I'm willing to tell you what nobody else will: You're not crazy, Gail. That's all I'm going to say. The rest is between you and Cas."

Gail felt dread in the pit of her stomach. She didn't think she was crazy, either. Now she was more afraid of not being crazy than she was of being crazy. "Do you mind going back in the bunker, Chuck? I'd like to sit here quietly and think for a while."

Chuck was nervous now. What was happening with her? What had he done?

"OK, Gail," he said. "But don't sit out for too long. We don't want you catching a cold, on top of everything else," he added for light  humour . He kissed her on the forehead and winked back into the bunker.

Gail continued to sit outside, looking at the fall  colours . She had known Sam and Dean and Cas for two years now. How her life had changed in the past couple of years. But somebody had taken her biography and ripped out a couple of chapters. Did she really want to read those chapters, though? She didn't want Cas's eyes to be purple; she wanted them to be the beautiful, sparkling blue they had always been. And wasn't her body in enough pain to think about bruises and welts on it, too? And she loved it when Cas was between her legs, but she didn't want to see blood on his mouth when he was down there. She only wanted to see his eyes, his BLUE eyes, looking at hers. His mouth, bloodless, telling her he loved her. And his tongue, making love to her. Everything they did together was because they loved each other. She had never stopped loving him, and he had never stopped loving her. And if he seemed a lot more confident in bed now, as if they had been there a lot more than she thought they had, so what? Hadn't she been reaping the benefits? She didn't know why there should be a problem with him making love to her any way they chose. He took great care not to hurt her, and if he ever had, she refused to think about it. Even when she had suggested the one position she knew would put her in the most vulnerable of spots, he had not hurt her, he'd only made her feel wonderful. And why had she suggested it, anyway? To test him? There was no blood, and there was no pain, only love, and tenderness, and ecstasy. And the only pain she felt was from the wounds that had been inflicted on her by the beast in the Secret Garden, not by a beast in her bed. A black panther that had been possessed by a Demon. A Demon  cat . Demon Cat, not Demon Cas. Funny how one letter could make all the difference in the world.

Cas prayed to his Father, much like another Son of His had prayed to Him ages ago. Please take this cup from my lips, blah blah blah. But he knew even as he was doing it that it was no use. It was Cas's cup to drink. He had begged for deliverance before, and he thought he'd gotten it. But that had just been an illusion. This was the reality, and he had no one to blame but himself.

He came out to the library area, and Chuck told him where Gail was. Cas didn't like the look on Chuck's face. "What did you say to her?" he asked Chuck.

"I told her that she wasn't crazy," Chuck replied. Let Cas be mad, if he was going to be mad. "And I told her the rest is between you and her."

Cas nodded. Fair enough.

He popped outside and knelt down in front of her, looking her in the eyes. "Ask me anything you want, and I will answer you honestly," Cas said to Gail, taking her hands in his.

"Do you really love me?" Gail asked him.

Here it came, Cas thought. She was going to berate him now. And he would take it for as long as she gave it, before she asked him to leave, just so he could fix her face in his memory. Maybe she would let him take the Vegas photos with him, if she didn't burn them, first.

"Yes, I do. With all my heart, and my fractured soul," he answered sadly.

Gail frowned. She didn't want to hear that from him. "Have you always loved me? Always?" she repeated, emphasizing the word.

"Yes," he answered simply. It was the truth, after all. Even when he had been the Demon, even when he had been the Vampire. He'd hurt her, but he had never stopped loving her.

Gail touched his face with both hands, even though it hurt her to move her broken arm. "I believe you," she said. He waited for her to speak further, but she just stared at him. Cas was scared. Why wasn't she yelling at him? Demanding answers? Telling him to pack his bags? This quiet stare of hers was almost worse.

"Say what you need to say, Gail," he said, bowing his head. "Please."

"I guess I do have PTSD," she said, touching his hair with her good hand. "And you probably do, too.  So we'll both need time to heal. Why don't you go out on the road with the guys for a while, and I'll stay here and do research? But don't do anything crazy. It'll take me a little while to get over ALL of my injuries, but I've done it before, and I know I can do it again."

He lifted his head and looked at her intently. Was she saying what he thought she was saying?

"I'm only going to say this once, and then we'll never talk about it again," Gail said to him. "I forgive you. I remember everything, and I forgive you.  So don't go out there thinking I'm angry, or that I'm going to leave you, because I won't. I just need some time. It worked for us before." She tried to smile. "But the next time you're worried about our relationship, talk to me, not to God. And don't feel bad, or sorry for yourself, any more. What happened to you was just as much my fault as it was yours."

Cas opened his mouth to protest, but Gail put a hand to his lips. "No. Don't," she told Cas. "You don't have to accept what I'm saying, but I know it's true. For a while there I was just as bad as you were, and I took what you dished out. That's my guilt, and my shame. But, you know what? I'm not going to feel guilty about it  anymore , and neither are you. Because if we let that consume us, it's going to ruin the rest of our days. And I want a lot of those.  So you go out and get Lucifer, and  Aurielle , and Metatron. And I'll stay here and heal. Do you love me?"

"Yes," he said, stunned. He couldn't believe what she was saying.

"Good, because I love you," she told him. "And I've decided that's all that matters. Now let's make out for a few minutes, and then I'll go back inside and apologize to our friends. Okay?"

"Gail, I can't..." he started to say.

"You can't what?" she asked him.

Cas shook his head. He didn't know, either. "I need to tell you how sorry I am," he said, anguished.

"Then go ahead, if you really need to," Gail said, smiling faintly. "But I already know. And you're wasting precious smooching time."

He took her hands in his and bowed his head again. Apparently, his prayer had been answered, after all. He thanked his Father, and he promised Him he'd never let Him down again.

Cas raised his head and said, "Thank you, Gail."

"Don't thank me, Cas," she said. "Just love me."

"Done," he said. Then he was kissing her, and she was kissing him, and their arms were around each other, and then she gave him her tongue, and it was the sweetest and most loving kiss they had ever shared.

God was smiling. He had heard  Castiel's prayers, and God had been considering whether or not to bail  Castiel out. Once again. Frankly, though, He was getting a little tired of it. The only reason He'd done it when  Castiel had appealed to Him that night in Vancouver was because God had felt somewhat responsible for the whole thing in the first place. If He hadn't been testing his Son Crowley, the King of Hell would never have had the opportunity to put his Demon essence into  Castiel , setting off the chain reaction that had occurred.  So God had relented, erasing Gail's memories, and Frank's, Sam's, and Jody's. But He had asked Gail first, and she had elected not to remember. He had pulled back at the last second, though, due to some reluctance on His part. A part of Him felt that she had made the wrong decision. Why should  Castiel skate through that whole experience? He had done terrible, brutal things. God had doled out a few punishments here and there, but not nearly as many as His Son had deserved for his reprehensible  behaviour . God had sent Gail to  Castiel as a gift, and  Castiel had taken her as his right. Had he forgotten about all those lonely years that he had gone without true love and companionship? But then God had taken pity on  Castiel once again when he had been exiled to Canada, and His Son had finally exhibited remorse, and showed signs of self-improvement. Then God had been glad when Gail found her way back to  Castiel and the couple had eventually reconciled. Their Father had had nothing to do with that; it had been Gail and her love for  Castiel and capacity for forgiveness that had been the deciding factor there. But she had changed now. Those dark days had made her into a stronger woman, and she had let His Son know about that fact. Apparently, she had fought to regain her mind and her memories now, and she had won. Her mind was a lot stronger than her Father had given her credit for, and He admired her for that. His Son had better not ever take her for granted again, God thought with amusement, or Lucifer might be the least of his worries.

And yes, God could just pick Lucifer up by the scruff of his neck like a puppy and slam him back into another cage if He so chose. Metatron, too. But Revelation had foretold that this was going to happen, so there wasn't much that God could do about it. There was more truth in the Bible than the group assembled in the bunker right now knew, and the events had to play out as written. But God would keep an eye on things, because even He didn't know what was going to happen.

He watched now as  Castiel wheeled Gail back to her place at the table. Had she really forgiven His Son? Like Cas, God knew that when a woman said that everything was fine, that did not necessarily mean that everything was fine. That was one of those things that God found extremely amusing. But He had made it that way on purpose. Men had had the upper hand for centuries, and almost all of the advantages.  So they needed to be grounded, and kept on their toes. If a man truly loved a woman, she would do that for him. It had been the same since the beginning of time: Men may rule the world, but women ruled the relationship, and any man who thought otherwise was just fooling himself. It amused God to see  Castiel struggle with this concept. But His Son seemed to be getting a pretty good idea nowadays. Or so God hoped, anyway.

Gail looked around the table. "I'm sorry, everybody. I didn't mean to freak out like that. I'm in a lot of pain, and I'm taking those stupid pills, and I guess I just lost it there for a minute. I apologize."

"DO you have PTSD?" Frank asked her, concerned.

She looked at him. "I guess I do. My mind's a little fried. And it didn't help when I got attacked by that panther. I guess when they had me in the hospital, they should have given me a CAT scan."

Silence in the room.

"Come on! CAT scan? Anybody?" Gail said hopefully.

Frank slammed his hand on the table. "Damn it!" he exclaimed. "Why didn't I say that?"

He and Gail grinned at each other as everyone else looked at them incredulously. Then Sam and Dean started to grin as well, and soon everyone was smiling.

"I'm going to be okay," Gail told them all. "Just give me a little time. I'm not used to feeling helpless like this."

"I'll give you lots of reading and research to do," Sam told her. "Your mind will be so  occupied, your body will heal in no time."

She smiled at him. "Thanks, Sam. I'll need to feel productive."

Cas was staring at Gail. She seemed back to normal, free and easy, completely herself again. Except for her poor, painful body, that was. But he still wondered. He had thought his prayers were answered in the past, but even when he'd gotten what he wanted, there had always been a catch.

Dean was staring at her too, and he looked at Cas with his eyebrows raised. Cas gave him a half-shrug. They'd have to talk later. Poor Dean. Cas would have to tell him that Gail had regained her memories, but also remind him that Sam hadn't, nor had Frank and Jody. That would be hard on Dean, but Cas was hoping they could let that situation stand. He had the feeling that Frank wouldn't be nearly as forgiving as Gail seemed to be.

He kissed Gail's hand, and she looked at him. "What was that for?" she asked.

"For everything," he said to her. He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. "For being you."

"All right, you two, settle down," Chuck growled, imitating Bobby, and they all laughed.

"Yeah, enough, already," Dean said. He was still looking curiously at the two of them.

"Just for that, we're going to do it again," Gail said, and this time she kissed Cas, holding the kiss for a moment.

"You know your brother's sitting right beside you, don't you?" Sam teased.

"Aah, leave them alone," Frank said, somewhat surprisingly. "As long as they're keeping it clean, they're not hurting anybody. We're all just jealous."

Cas looked at Frank. His heart was warm now. Gail loved him, and her brother approved of him. He prayed that things could stay like this forever. Please, Father.

God sat back. He didn't know how He felt about that, really. But He was done messing around with His children, at least for the time being. They had Lucifer and Armageddon to face, and that would be quite enough for them to deal with for now. He was going to stay out of it.

Lucifer stood under the hot lights in the TV studio, holding his Bible.

"You are all sinners," he said, pointing at the studio audience. It was small, but he knew that soon, it would grow. This was only his first show, after all. "And so are you," he continued, looking at the camera. Then he smiled. "But, so am I, and so are my Brothers and Sisters. All of us are. But I'm here to tell you that that's OK."

He held up the Bible. "This book tells us that we should be ashamed of ourselves. It tells us that no matter what we do, we will never measure up to what God expects of us. That we are all flawed, and we are all imperfect. So why do we even try for results that we can never even hope to achieve?"

A couple of the people in the audience yawned. They'd heard this before, from about a million of these types of guys.

Lucifer frowned. He'd been going for the big buildup. But entertainment was a lot different in these modern times. You had to grab them by the balls right away, or they would move on to something else.

"Well, you know what I say?" Lucifer said, raising his voice. He put the Bible on the lectern in front of him, then he reached into his pocket for the matches. "I say, screw the Bible!" he shouted. He took out the matches, lit one, and dropped it on the Bible. He'd soaked the pages in kerosene prior to coming out here, and it went up immediately.

"Burn, baby, burn!" Lucifer said delightedly. Now the audience was sitting up straighter.

Lucifer let it burn for a moment, then he looked to the side of the stage and said, "Allison, would you be a dear and bring me the fire extinguisher?"

Aurielle hurried out with it. He had told her and Mark beforehand what he was going to do, but she hadn't known he was going to call on her to come out. She averted her face from the TV camera. Her face was still hideous. She should have selected another vessel in Las Vegas, when he'd given her the chance. Now he wouldn't allow her to change, even though she had begged him. He'd told her that she had to stay that way so they could garner some sympathy from the  public and get bigger donations. But she knew he was really just punishing her for the way she'd spoken to him in Vegas. She had been nothing but docile and obedient since, though, and  Aurielle had been hoping that he would change his mind. Meanwhile, she was waiting until Gail's recovery was complete.  Aurielle had every intention of going through with her plan, but Gail had to be whole first, so that her vessel would be fully capable of loving  Castiel in the way that  Aurielle now craved.

"My sister Allison, ladies and gentlemen," Lucifer said, introducing  Aurielle and taking the fire extinguisher from her. "Isn't she beautiful? Well, mostly," he added softly, smiling at her. "Look at the audience, honey," he instructed  Aurielle , and she straightened up and faced forward. There was an audible gasp.

"Yes, my sister had an unfortunate accident," Lucifer said. "But she's here with me, helping me to spread our message of hope." He sprayed the fire extinguisher on the burning Bible, putting out the flames, then handed it back to  Aurielle . "Thank you, Allison."

She rushed offstage, and Lucifer turned back to the audience. "And I do bring a message of hope," he told them. "We don't need the Bible to tell us what we know is right. The world's going to hell in a handbasket, folks. We see it all around us. People killing people in the name of religion. Everybody trying to be holier than everyone else. Well, I'm sick of it! Are you sick of it?"

A few people in the audience answered, "Yes," and one man clapped. OK; that was a start, at least.

" So we might as well enjoy ourselves while we can," Lucifer continued. "Everybody's got The Bomb now, and it's only a matter of time before somebody nukes somebody. And we're going to go down, all because the governments of all these countries are going to start a great big dick fight! Am I right, ladies? Who thinks that men are going to start the next World War basically over whose is bigger?"

A couple of the women raised their hands. "I do," said one of them.

"Well then, you're very smart," Lucifer said, grinning at them. "But my point is, there's nothing any of us ordinary people can do about that. But in the meantime, we can make sure that we have a damn good time before the lights go out. And God wants us to enjoy our lives. Who do you think created all those Earthly pleasures in the first place? The Bible is just a storybook, filled with nonsense about how we should feel guilty about everything we think, and everything we do. Well, that's crap. I, for one, don't need to be slut-shamed by some ancient book. If I want to have sex, I'll have it! God wouldn't have invented orgasms if He didn't want us to enjoy it! And there's a lot of wine in the Bible, isn't there? So why shouldn't we have a drink or three at the end of a long work day if we want to? I know I do!"

A few more people had joined the audience now. One of the studio employees had gone out to the office when Lucifer had burned the Bible and said, "You should see this guy," and some had come, out of curiosity. They were whispering amongst themselves now. A preacher, advocating sin. Well, it was certainly a unique approach.

"That's really all I wanted to say to all of you," Lucifer continued. "God wants you to be happy, and he wants you to enjoy yourselves. He has given us a great bounty of things to enjoy, and we're doing him a great disservice if we don't do it.  So have that cheesecake, ladies, and ask for that blowjob, guys."

A couple of the women gasped, but most of the audience laughed, and some of them applauded. This guy was funny. And he had a positive message. All of the other preachers told them that they were living life all wrong. Not only was he not telling them that, but he was telling them that they should do more of what they liked to do, and that God would approve. In short, he was telling them just what they wanted to hear.

"Oops," Lucifer said, putting a hand over his mouth. "I probably shouldn't have said that. Now I'll be in trouble with the bosses here at the studio. Hopefully they don't kick me off the air, because I'm just getting started. Or, I should say, WE'RE just getting started. It's a partnership here. I'm a humble guy. I'm not some big TV star, and I'm not some holier-than-thou dick who's going to stand up here and pretend like I'm better than anyone else, because I'm not. We're all just trying to worship in our own way. But I hope I'll get to come and talk to you again. This air time is really expensive, and I've been saving up for my poor sister Allison's skin graft operations. But she wanted me to come here and talk to you today. She's a sweet, lovely thing; in fact, you could even call her an Angel. I'm hoping that she can find a nice man  someday , a loving husband who can take care of her. But let's face it, folks. It's a shallow old world, and she's not going to meet anyone with her face looking like that." A couple of the women in the audience frowned. He continued, "Hey, ladies, I'm with you. It's a rough world out there, but I'm just speaking the truth. I'm a big believer in the truth. And I love my sister. I only want the best for her." He looked to the side of the stage, where  Aurielle was standing. "She deserves a good man. She's an Angel, and she deserves an Angel. A guy who's going to treat her the way she deserves to be treated. So, if it's God's will, she'll have her operations, and then she'll have her guy."

He looked back at the audience. "They're  signaling to me that my time is up. Already. I told you, air time is expensive." He flashed them a sheepish grin. "I probably shouldn't have taken up so much time talking about Allison. I think I've embarrassed her now. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to talk to all of you again soon. And if the spirit moves any of you, there's a donation box in the back. We'd appreciate any help you can give." Then he leaned forward, grinning again. "But don't spend all your money on us. Go and have a drink when you leave here. I know I'm  gonna . 'Bye for now, folks. And, don't worry. God loves you, just the way you are."

Lucifer waved, and many of them waved back. Then he left the stage as they applauded.

The studio employees looked at each other, bemused. "Can you believe that guy?" one of them said.

Another smiled. "If he had a church, I'd go. He's the first preacher I've ever seen that I'd like to have a beer with."

One of the women frowned. "He's kind of  off-colour , though. And I don't know if I liked what he said about his sister. I thought it was kind of mean."

"Oh, and you don't judge guys by how they look, I guess?" another of the women said. "He was only telling the truth. And she's a beautiful woman otherwise. I think I'll go put a few bucks in the box for her."

The first man spoke again. " So you really think your money will go towards an operation for her? What kind of a dream world are you living in?"

"You're way too cynical," she told him. "Don't you trust in God?"

"Sure, I trust in God," he retorted. "I just don't trust anyone who works for Him."

She rolled her eyes, and went to the back of the room, dropping $20 in the box. Many of the studio audience were doing the same as they filed out.

"How did I do?" Lucifer asked Mark and  Aurielle .

"You were great," Mark said enthusiastically. "Really entertaining. And you certainly got your message across."

But  Aurielle was wondering what that message was supposed to be, exactly. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow Armageddon cometh, and you'll all be dead anyway?

Lucifer looked at her sharply, as if he had heard her thoughts. He probably did know what she was thinking,  Aurielle thought. He seemed to know what she was thinking most of the time.

"What did you think,  Aurielle ?" he asked her in an even tone.

"I think you're going to be a star," she said, and about that, she was telling the truth.

Everyone was sitting around chatting when Bobby suddenly reappeared, and he had a woman and a child with him.

"Everyone, meet Felicia and Robbie," Bobby said.

Bobby had gone to Felicia's house directly upon leaving the bunker. They sat together on her living room couch, and she showed him the note from Mark.

Bobby scowled as he read it. What a son of a bitch. Bobby wasn't sure what made him angrier, the fact that Mark was another Gospel writer who had turned traitor, or the fact that he had had the nerve to marry Felicia and adopt a child with her, knowing full well that he intended to abandon them as soon as Lucifer came calling.

Felicia had tissues balled up in her hand, and she was dabbing at her eyes. She didn't want to fall apart in front of God, but her heart was hurting so much. She had thought that she and Mark had built a life here together, and it had all been a lie. She had left Heaven for him, and now he was gone, and he was serving the Devil. What was she going to tell Robbie?

"I'm sorry, my Lord," she said to Bobby. "I feel like such a fool."

Bobby looked at her, giving her a tight smile. "I told you, it's Bobby. And you're not a fool, Felicia. Or, if you are, then you're in good company. Those guys had us all fooled." He told her about their discovery of Matthew's body, and Felicia's eyes grew wide. This was much bigger, much more insidious than she had realized. But Felicia was concerned about her son. He was an innocent party in all of this.

"I'd like you and Robbie to come to the bunker with me," Bobby told her. "You'll both be protected there. Where is Robbie right now?"

"I sent him to the  neighbours '," she replied. "I don't know what I'm going to tell him, Bobby. I haven't even told him I'm an Angel. I thought he was too young, yet."

"Well, I'm afraid he's going to have to grow up a little quick, now," Bobby said grimly. "We can introduce him to a few people who know what that's all about, unfortunately." He was thinking of Sam and Dean, of course. And Frank and Gail, as well.

Felicia nodded. "OK, Bobby. I'll go next door and get him, then. I'll have to pack some of our things. If you tell me where the bunker is, I'll have a talk with Robbie about who and what we are, and then I'll pop us over there when we're ready." She didn't question him any further. He was God, and he knew best.

Bobby frowned. He didn't want Felicia and Robbie to be here alone, just in case Mark changed his mind and decided to come back for his family. The poor kid was going to be subjected to enough, as it was. And Bobby wasn't comfortable with the idea of giving Felicia the exact location of the bunker, either. Not with Mark out there. Felicia was on their side, but she had also spoken about her husband with a hint of warmth in her voice, and that made Bobby uneasy. The last thing he would need was to go outside the bunker and find Lucifer there, grinning. Or for Mark to grab Robbie and hold him for ransom. Who knew what this guy was capable of? Bobby had shaken Mark's hand at Ignatius's funeral, and so had Cas, and Mark hadn't batted an eye.

"No, you both need to come to the bunker right away," Bobby told her. "Make a list of what you want, and I'll send a group here to pack it for you."

Wow. This was serious, Felicia thought. "Can I at least have a minute to talk to Robbie before we leave? I want to prepare him," Felicia said. Then she sighed. "Though I have no idea what I'm going to say."

So Felicia and her son were in the bunker now, and the boy was looking around the room at everyone, wide-eyed. The man with the beard was God, his Mom had told him. Robbie remembered him from his Grandpa's funeral. God had been at his Grandpa's funeral. Wow. And, his Mom was an Angel. Being a young boy, Robbie didn't even question this. He believed in Santa Claus, he believed in superheroes, and he believed in his Mom. She loved him more than anything, so it didn't particularly surprise him that she was an Angel. Robbie had known about God and Angels for quite a while now. God was the Boss, and the Angels were his Justice League. Robbie had asked his Mom and God about his Dad. Was he an Angel, too? His mother and God had exchanged glances at that. Robbie knew that when grownups did that, you either had said something you shouldn't, or had asked them a question they didn't want to answer. He may be a kid, but he wasn't stupid. Then his Mom had told him that his Dad had had to go away for a while, and they were going with God to stay with some nice people. Some would be humans and some would be Angels, but they were all nice, and they were all their friends.

"Can I bring my comic books?" Robbie asked her hopefully.

"Tell you what," Bobby said to the boy. "I'm  gonna send some of our friends here to pack up some stuff for you and your Mom, and they'll make sure to bring some good stuff back with them. OK?"

"OK," Robbie said in a small voice. He'd been hoping to have them right away, but everybody knew you couldn't argue with God.

Then Bobby had taken Felicia's hand in one of his and Robbie's in the  other and winked them to the bunker.

Little Robbie saw Cas, and he let go of Bobby's hand, running up to him. "I remember you," he said to Cas. "You were at my Grandpa's funeral."

"Yes, I was," Cas said, smiling gently at the boy.

Robbie patted his chest. "I'm keeping my Grandpa in my heart, just like you said."

A lump formed in Cas's throat, and Gail smiled. She hadn't known exactly what Cas had said to Felicia's family in the church at the time, but that sounded like him, all right. It sounded like what he had said to her just before his own execution. Tears prickled at her eyes. She was reminded again of why she loved him so much, and why she had ultimately had to forgive him.

Then Robbie looked past Cas and saw Gail. "You were there, too," he said to her. He moved around Cas and saw the wheelchair, gaping. "But you weren't in that chair, then." Robbie looked around the room in amazement. "Are you guys the X-Men, or something?" Then he looked back at Gail. "Are you the Professor?"

Everyone laughed, even Felicia, who had been starting to cry again at what her son had said to  Castiel .

Robbie was frowning now. "But the Professor is supposed to be a man," he said.

"I wouldn't mind being Storm," Linda piped up unexpectedly. "She's powerful, and she's a beautiful woman of  colour ." Kevin looked at his mother, amazed. He didn't think he'd ever heard her say anything quite so...human before. For lack of a better word.

"Much like yourself," Chuck said charmingly, and Linda gave him a smile.

Gail shrugged. "Sorry to disappoint you, kid," she told Robbie. She thought he was cute, but she didn't quite know how to respond to what he'd said. She hadn't been exposed to too many children in her life, not since she'd been one herself and had gone to school with a bunch of them.  So she wasn't used to being around someone who just said whatever came to mind. Except for Becky, maybe. And Crowley.

But Robbie smiled at her now. "I'm glad you're a lady," he said. Suddenly he jumped in her lap, and his elbow poked her in the stomach, hard. Gail yelled in pain, and Robbie looked at her with wide eyes.

Felicia rushed forward and grabbed Robbie by the hand, pulling him off of Gail's lap. "I'm so sorry," she said to Gail. "He's a little...exuberant, sometimes."

Gail waved her hand in acknowledgement, but she was in too much pain to speak for a moment. Then she gasped, "Cas...I think I need to go back to bed for a bit."

He knelt in front of the chair. "Are you all right, Gail?"

Dean rolled his eyes. Captain Obvious had become Captain Oblivious. " Of course she's not all right, Cas," he snapped. He was still mad at Cas for that whole thing earlier. "Get your head out of your ass."

Cas gave Dean a look, then sprang to his feet and wheeled Gail out of the room. "Dean, come with us, please," Gail said over her shoulder.

Dean let out a frustrated breath, then followed them.

Cas lifted Gail out of the chair and back onto the bed, pulling the covers over her. "I'll get your pill," he said, and rushed out of the room.

"Come here, Dean," Gail said to him, patting the bed beside her. He sat, and she took his hand. She was in agony, but she wanted to tell him what was going on. Gail knew how frustrating it was, being in the dark.

"I wanted to tell you: I've remembered everything, Dean," Gail told him. "I know that you know too, and Bobby, and I know that Frank, Sam and Jody don't. And I've forgiven him, Dean."

"Well, maybe I haven't," Dean grumbled. He'd thought he had, but apparently, Dean still had some of his own stuff to work through.

"That'll have to be between you and him," Gail said. "I think you guys should talk about it, then." She tried to smile. "I know how much you just  looove to talk about your feelings. But maybe in this case, you could make an exception. He is your best friend."

Dean thought about that. Maybe she was right. Maybe, if Cas came out on the road with them, Dean could figure out a way to have the subject accidentally come up. But now, something else was bothering him. It was a relief not to have to tiptoe around Gail any more, but: "What about Sam?"

"What about him?" Gail asked, though she thought she probably already knew.

"He's been driving me crazy," Dean said. "He says I've been acting weird, and I probably have. But he's got way too many questions that I don't have any answers for. What am I supposed to do about him?"

"Tell him," Cas said. He walked over to the bed, carrying a pill and a glass of water for Gail. He looked at Dean, but Dean remained where he was. Dean held out his hand and Cas put the pill in it, then handed him the glass of water.

"Hold that thought," Dean said to Cas. Then he turned back to Gail and said, "Baby bird." She smiled, despite the pain. "Really, Dean?" Gail said, He shrugged. "What? I do have a softer side, you know," he told her. Now Gail shrugged, and she opened her mouth. Dean put the pill in, then he tipped the glass to her lips and she drank some water to wash it down.

Dean got off the bed and put the glass on the nightstand. Then he looked at Cas. "Tell him?" Dean said. "Just like that?"

Cas frowned. "Yes, Dean. Just like that. If he's angry with me, I'll just have to deal with it. The whole thing was my fault, anyway." He looked at Gail, ready to admonish her, but she made no protest. She was simply watching the two of them.

"What about Frank?" Dean asked. "And Jody?"

Cas's frown deepened. "What do you think, Gail?" he asked her. "What do you want to do about your brother?" He felt sick to his stomach now. Sam was bad enough, but now Frank was going to go back to hating him, too. Cas had been basking in the warm glow of Frank's good opinion of him, and he really didn't want to give that up. But Frank was Gail's brother, so it should be her decision.

"Nothing," Gail told them. "Let it stand."

The men were surprised. "Really?" Dean said. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," she replied. "I don't see any benefit to telling him. Maybe he doesn't need to know everything. Jody, either."

Dean and Cas looked at each other. Then Dean shrugged. "Your call," he said to Gail.

Cas sat down on the bed in the spot that Dean had vacated and took Gail's hand. "Can you leave us alone, Dean?" he said.

Dean rolled his eyes. He was being dismissed again. But he guessed he'd gotten what he'd wanted. "Rest up, Gail," he told her. "Feel better." Then he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Gail was frowning. "What's the matter?" Cas asked her softly.

"I'm frustrated," she told him. "I feel like such an invalid."

"Why don't you let Bobby get you a new vessel, then?" he said. "I hate seeing you in this much pain. Especially since you don't have to be." He squeezed her hand gently.

"No," Gail said stubbornly. "I don't want that. I want to be me. You fell in love with this face, and this body. I don't want someone else's."

"I would love you no matter what," Cas told her.

"It's not like changing clothes, Cas,"  nshe said irritably. "I don't want to look like some stranger. I want to be myself." Her eyes started to fill with tears. "It seems like we've come to the 'Why me' stage," Gail continued. "Why do these things keep happening to me? I feel so useless. You guys taught me how to fight, and I keep getting clobbered anyway. Humans, animals, everything gets the best of me. And now I have to sit here in a stupid wheelchair while you guys go out there, and I won't be able to do a damn thing to help you! I'm sorry, Cas. Can you just leave me alone for a bit to wallow in self-pity? You shouldn't be here. It won't be a pretty sight. Besides, you've got to get out there and plan the strategy with the other X-Men. Right now, all I am is Professor Pathetic."

Cas opened his mouth to speak, but really, what could he say? She was right. Since she insisted on staying in her own broken body, there was nothing she would be able to do for a while to help them but read and type on the computer. But he was still glad. That was why he wasn't pushing harder for her to get a new vessel. If she did, Bobby would send her back out there, exposing her to more danger. And she was entitled to wallow for a bit. Heaven only knew he'd been doing that, and his body was whole.

"All right," Cas said, kissing her forehead. "I'll come back to check on you later. I love you, Gail, and so does everyone else here. Please remember that." Then he rose and left the room.

"Is she  gonna be all right?" Frank asked Cas when he came back out to the library area.

"She'll be fine, Frank," Cas told him. "She just needs some time. She's been through a lot." He felt strange talking to Frank like this, especially since they were all conspiring to keep Gail's brother in the dark about a big part of what Gail had been through.

"Have you talked to her about getting a new vessel, Cas?" Bobby asked.

"I have," Cas answered him. "She doesn't want one. She says she wants to be herself."

Frank shook his head. "I love my sister, but she can be stubborn as hell sometimes. Thank God you're a patient man, Cas."

Castiel gave him a faint smile. "I prefer to think of her as tenacious."

Frank and Cas continued to look at each other, and then they laughed together. For Cas, that had been one of the most enjoyable laughs he'd had in quite a while. Now he knew that Gail had made the right decision.

"She'll be all right, Frank," Cas said again. "I'll make sure of it."

But Bobby was frowning. "You can't just stay here and play nursemaid to her, Cas," he said. "I'm  gonna need you out there, just as soon as we figure out what we're doing."

"I know," Cas told him. "Gail said the same thing. I'll just have to pop in here once in a while to check on her. But I know what the priority is." He smiled inside. Yes, Cas knew what his priority was. But Gail and Bobby were right. Lucifer had to be  found and taken down. But how were they going to do that? They were no further ahead now than they had been before.

Felicia approached Bobby. "I just realized something," she told the men. "Mark's got his cell phone with him. At least, I think he does. Do you think I should try calling him? Maybe I could find out where he is, or at least get him to give me a clue or two."

"That's an excellent idea,"  Castiel said.

Felicia gave him a tight smile. She'd been feeling terrible about the situation, hoping there was something she could do to help. She still loved Mark, or at least, she loved who she'd thought that was. But it was paramount that Lucifer be found, and stopped, before he could do too much damage.

"Is Gail all right?" Felicia asked Cas. "She looked like she was in a lot of pain." While Cas had been putting Gail to bed, the other Angels had filled Felicia in on Cas and Gail's confrontation with Lucifer and  Aurielle in Las Vegas, and on the extent of Gail's injuries. Now Felicia felt really bad about Robbie having jumped on her like that. "She was very kind to me at my father's funeral. I kept his gavel on the mantelpiece in the living room."

Cas smiled. He remembered Gail having made that gesture. It was things like that which reminded him of why he loved her so much, stubbornness aside. But he loved every bit of her, even when she was being obstinate. Besides, that stubbornness was going to keep her out of harm's way, so he blessed it now.

"Go ahead and call him, then," Bobby told Felicia. "It couldn't hurt. Here, I'll take you outside." He put his hand on her arm and winked them outside the bunker. "I don't want to run the risk of him overhearing anyone in the background," Bobby told Felicia when she looked at him questioningly. "Make your call."

Mark was standing on a street corner waiting for one of his contacts to show up when his cell phone rang. Felicia! Should he answer it? What the hell. He had a few minutes to kill.

He'd thought she would be weeping, begging for him to come back. But her voice was calm, and her tone was cool.

" So you're working for Lucifer," Felicia said to him. "Well, good luck with that."

Mark was impressed. If she'd shown him this kind of spirit when they'd been together, he would have had a harder time leaving the house. Maybe he would even have suggested that they dump the kid  somewhere and invited her to come with him. Mark knew that Lucifer wouldn't mind having a beautiful woman around to look at. That  Aurielle was a disaster. And Mark missed Felicia, in a way. He especially missed the things she did for him in bed. Mark hadn't had to do without in years, and Felicia had spoiled him by being willing and available any time he'd wanted her.

"Sorry, honey, that's just the way it is," Mark told her. "It's a pity you're on the wrong team. Lucifer is going to be really big here on Earth, and then he'd going to expand to other realms. This is his time, Felicia."

"Where are you, Mark?" Felicia asked him sadly. Bobby rolled his eyes. So much for subterfuge.

Mark laughed. "Nice try, Felicia. Lucifer told me there's a motley little group of Angels and humans trying to figure out where he is. I'll tell you what; I'll give you a clue. You know how I always liked football? Well, the place we're based out of has a professional team. Get Sam Winchester on that." Then he pressed End Call.

Felicia hung up the phone and told Bobby what Mark had said. Bobby frowned. Not much of a clue. He hadn't even said if it was an NFL team. But he guessed it was something. That was if Mark was even telling the truth, of course. He winked them back inside.

Bobby called Cas, Frank, Sam and Dean to come to where he stood. Felicia walked over to her son, who was talking to Becky and Kevin.

"I'm  gonna send you guys to Felicia's house, to get some stuff for her and Robbie," Bobby told them. "I want my best fighters there, just in case."

Frank was pleased to be included in that number. How far he had come, in such a relatively short time. He was thrilled that Gail was an Angel now, and that she had such quality friends.

"Can you take all three, Cas?" Bobby asked him.

"Of course," Cas replied, smiling. He looked at his human friends. "Go get some weapons and meet me back here."

The men went to the weapons room, and Cas looked at Bobby. "Go," Bobby said, and Cas rushed down the hall to Gail's room.

"Where's he sending you?" Gail asked him as soon as he entered the bedroom.

Cas smiled. She was certainly no fool. He sat on the edge of the bed and told her. "Are you feeling any better?" he asked her. "Did the pill help?"

"Yes, and yes," Gail told him. "I had my little self-pity party, and it's over now. I'm sorry I've been so childish. I'll be better, Cas. I promise."

"You will feel better, Gail," he told her. "You'll see. Bobby told me he wants me to go out in the field, but I'll come and see you whenever I can. And if you need me, just call, like you did in Las Vegas. Okay?"

"Okay," she said. "Please be careful, Cas. I know you're the best he's got, but please be careful anyway, okay?"

"I will," he assured her.

"And keep practicing that thing I saw you do," she said teasingly. "That was pretty impressive."

"I don't think Lucifer would enjoy receiving a bouquet of flowers," he deadpanned.

Gail laughed, then said, " Hey, the pill must be working. That hardly hurt at all."

Cas smiled. He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips, then he touched her cheek. "There will be a day when you don't hurt  anymore ," he told her.

Yeah, and then I'll have my first operation, Gail thought. But she didn't say that out loud. She'd told him that she was done with self-pity.

"Do me a  favour , Cas?" she said to him.

"Name it," he replied.

"Please give me a hug, while the pill is still working," she requested.

Cas was reluctant to do it; she was so fragile. But she clearly needed the comfort, and so did he.  So he very gently put his arms around her and drew her to him. Gail grimaced a bit, but she put her arms around him in return.

"I love you, Cas," she said in his ear.

He wished he could hold her tighter. Cas closed his eyes and imagined the day when she would be whole again. It was hard for him to see her in so much pain, and to know there was nothing he could do about it.

Cas kissed her with his tongue, and her grip on him tightened. He wanted to give her a kiss that would last for a while on her lips, just in case he wasn't able to make it back to see her for a while.

Gail felt the same way. She had the feeling it might be a while, too. But Bobby needed him, and she had told him she wanted him to go. Her and her stupid mouth. But this wasn't about them right now. If she wanted them to truly be able to move on from that very ugly period in their lives, Gail needed to let  Castiel be a hero again. If he was Heaven's hero, he could be hers, too. He was never finer than when he was fighting on the side of Right. That was the man, and the Angel, she had fallen in love with. Gail may have come out of their ordeal a stronger woman, but she wasn't going to require him to sit by her bedside and moon over her with  puppy dog eyes. That wasn't who he was, and it wasn't who she wanted him to be.

Still, she wasn't above trying to remind him what he'd be missing when he was out there.  So she gave him her tongue, and she grabbed one of his arms with her good hand and moved his hand under her top. His fingertips touched her lightly, and he made a sound.

"I just wanted you to miss me when you're gone," Gail teased him in a soft voice. "Who knows how sexy  Aurielle will look when she shows up next?"

Cas frowned. "I know you're being funny, but you couldn't possibly think..." he started to say.

"I don't," Gail told him. "I was only joking." He was still touching her, and he was smiling now. "Good," Cas said. "Because you are the only woman I will ever love, and the only one I will ever touch. Anywhere. Here..." his hand came out from underneath her top, and went between her legs for a moment, "...or here."

Gail gave a small gasp. "You'd better watch it, or I'll never let you out of here," she breathed.

"I'm trying to see a downside to that," Cas said, smiling. He slipped his hand into her pants and started to stroke her slowly. "I want YOU to miss ME," he said to her.

"Cas," she said, "what are you doing?"

"Are you in any pain?" he asked her.

"No, but..." Her breath caught.

"Then, I don't see a problem," he said, still smiling.

"Well, I do," Gail protested weakly, but she was moving against his hand now, the pain from her stomach forgotten.

"What's that?" Cas asked her softly. He leaned down and spoke into her ear, and he licked her earlobe once. Gail had never felt anything so sexy as that one little lick. But she had to try to put the brakes on, before this got out of hand. Even though she didn't want to.

"You know I can't be quiet, Cas," she told him. "I never could."

He considered this for a moment. She was right, of course. But he wanted to do it for her, anyway.  So he continued. "You're right," he told her, "but I can help you with that." He sped up the motion of his fingers, and when she started to whimper, his mouth came down on hers and muffled her cries. He continued to kiss her until she was still, and then he kissed her for another minute or so longer.

Gail broke the kiss. "Cas," she said, trying to catch her breath.

"What? Are you trying to say that you love me, and you'll miss me?" he teased her gently.

"Yeah," she breathed, smiling. "What you said."

"Me, too," Cas said. He pulled the covers up to her chin again, tucking her in. "Get some rest. I'll see you as soon as I can." Then he rose from the bed and softly exited the room.

The four men were in Felicia's house, tossing some clothes into suitcases for her and Robbie.

Sam and Dean had suggested playing Rock, Paper, Scissors for the privilege of standing guard and searching the house, as opposed to packing a kid's and a woman's clothes, and Frank and Dean had lost. But Dean did so much moaning about it that Cas had offered to switch places with him. Handling  womens ' clothing had never bothered  Castiel , and now that he had his mate, it bothered him even less.

As Sam and Dean walked through the house, checking all the rooms, Cas and Frank were packing. "I don't know why Dean objects to packing  womens ' clothing," Cas remarked to Frank. "He certainly doesn't seem to mind handling it when it's on a woman."

Frank grinned. "I think you just answered your own question."

Cas's lips twitched. "Yes, I suppose I did." Then he paused in the act of folding one of Felicia's blouses that he had been about to put in the suitcase. Frank was amused to be watching this. He wondered if Gail knew that Cas was such a natural at folding  womens ' clothes. Cas looked at Frank. "Can I ask you a question?" he said to Gail's brother.

"Sure, Cas," Frank replied.

Cas swallowed. "How do you feel about...your sister and I being together?"

Frank smiled. "Truthfully? At first, I thought it was weird. Two Angels...you know. And, she's my little sister. Nobody wants to think about stuff like that when it comes to their sister. Hey, she probably doesn't want to think about me in that context, either. I can just see her face now." Actually, they both could, and they smiled together, picturing her. She would wrinkle her nose and screw up her face. Frank continued, "But, you know what? I'm OK with it now. I like you, Cas. I'll back you up any time. I can see you really love my sister, and I can see she really loves you." Then Frank smiled again. "Just be careful. She may look cute and sweet, but she's got a  helluva temper." He extended his hand to Cas, flipping it over. "See that?"

Cas leaned forward to look at the back of Frank's hand. There were three small circles just below his knuckles. "Yes?" Cas said, curious.

"She stabbed me in the hand with a fork when she was fourteen," Frank told him.

Cas's mouth dropped open. "She did? Why?"

Frank grinned. "To be fair, I was tormenting her at the time."

Cas stared at Frank, trying to decide if he was joking or not. And people thought  Castiel had an odd sense of  humour . He shook his head slowly and resumed packing Felicia's suitcase.

Lucifer emerged from the station manager's office. The man had summoned him there right after the show, and Lucifer had wondered if he truly was going to be banned from the station. He supposed he had gotten a little carried away there, especially when he had mentioned blowjobs. But being under all those bright lights, with everyone's eyes focused on him, had been intoxicating. Knowing that strangers out there were listening to you, hanging onto your every word. Not to mention the studio audience. He had been locked away for so long, with only himself for company much of the time. But the instant he had burned that Bible and seen the audience's reaction, Lucifer knew he had found his calling.

He had just been charming the audience when he'd joked about the studio management not approving of what he'd said, but when an assistant had told him that his presence was required in the manager's office, Lucifer had wondered. Maybe what he'd said was too controversial for those guys. But they had better not tell him to stop. He was just getting started.

The manager was frowning when Lucifer entered his office. "Blowjobs?" the man said. "Burning Bibles? What the hell kind of preacher are you?"

Lucifer's eyes flashed red for a moment. Fortunately, the man had been looking down at some papers he held in his hand, and he'd missed it. But Lucifer was angry. How dare this guy speak to him like that? Didn't he know that Lucifer could snap his scrawny little neck with a wave of his hand? His fingers itched, and he waved his hand, causing an earthquake in Turkey. The opening salvo of Armageddon, perhaps.

But when the manager looked up, he was smiling. "These are all complaints," he said, rustling the papers he had in his hand. "The phones lit up both during and after your show."

Lucifer's hand twitched again, and a black cloud formed over Egypt, raining hail down on the outdoor markets there, and causing pockmarks to appear on the Sphinx. Keep it up, Lucifer thought irritably. It'll be your house next.

But the station manager surprised him. "You can have as much air time as you want," he told Lucifer. "This is exactly the kind of publicity we need. And we've got a few sponsors that we've been trying to match up with shows, but it's difficult these days. Everything is so politically correct. Alcohol, cigarettes, sex aids...everybody wants those things, but nobody wants to admit it, and nobody wants them advertised during their show. But if you're OK with it, we can match those products up with your show, and get everybody talking. So, feel free to be as controversial as you want. It makes for good TV."

So they had shaken hands, and Lucifer had come out of the office grinning. But he waved his hand once more and cast a few firebolts down on a housing complex in Frankfurt, Germany, where Hitler had once slept. Screw you, Lucifer thought. You were an amateur. A weak, pathetic shell of a man. The houses in Frankfurt burst into flames, incinerating everyone who'd had the misfortune to be in them at the time. Then the ashes turned into blood, which coursed through the streets of the city. The river of blood engulfed the downtown core and as it rose, people began to sink into it and drown. You're welcome, Jews, Lucifer thought, smiling to himself.

Cas and Frank had moved on to Robbie's room now, and Frank was throwing Robbie's clothes in a bag for him. He looked at the bookshelf across from the bed, flashing back to Gail's room, when she was a little girl. Her bookshelf had been crammed full of paperbacks, mostly fantasy and suspense novels. Wizards, witches, spells and curses, blood and murder. Maybe not the usual kind of reading material for a 10-year-old girl. But she had been stubborn even back then, and every time their mother had gone through Gail's books and culled the worst ones, Gail replaced them somehow. So eventually Christina had given up and let his sister read whatever she wanted to read. At least she was reading, Christina had rationalized, sharpening her mind and improving her vocabulary. With many children, Frank included, it was like pulling teeth to get them to pick up a book. By that time, Frank had already been in training to be a Hunter, so their mother had rationalized that they were not a typical, wholesome American family anyway. And it was much better for Gail to be reading about those things now so that she wouldn't grow up to think that she should go out there and do them, Christina had said to her husband. Frank smiled wryly, remembering when he had overheard her say that. She should see Gail now. He'd have loved to see their parents' faces if they were to get a look at their  childrens' lives these days. Too bad they hadn't lived to meet God, and the Winchesters, and Cas. Frank felt pretty confident that they would have been proud of the kind of adults that he and Gail had grown up to be, and happy to see the types of beings they associated with.

Robbie's bookshelf was predominated by comic books and action figures. Frank grabbed a pile of comic books and stuffed them into the bag. Then, after some consideration, he swept some of the action figures from the shelf into the bag, as well. X-Men, of course, although Frank put Superman in there, too. It was good for kids to have as many positive role models as they could get, even if they were make-believe. And the better Robbie got to know everyone in that bunker, the more likely it was that he would discover quite a few real-life role models there, himself hopefully included, Frank thought with pride.

"Let's roll," Frank said to Cas, picking up the bag. "I'm looking forward to seeing some action again. Hopefully, Bobby's got a more exciting assignment for us next time than packing, though. I'm mad, and I need to take it out on something." Then he smiled. "But, look who I'm talking to. You understand what I'm saying, I'll bet."

Cas smiled grimly. "Yes, I do, Frank. I'm very angry, as well. But we need to channel that anger and make sure it's expressed appropriately. Proportional response. Your sister has helped to teach me about that."

"Yeah, she'll do that to you," Frank said, nodding. "I always used to say: she was the brains, I was the brawn. But you're pretty smart too, Cas. Maybe you need to step up her training, and then you two can reverse roles for a while."

Cas looked at Frank curiously, but Gail's brother was grinning, so Cas decided he was joking. Frank's sense of  humour was going to take a little getting used to.

"I know you're being humorous, Frank, but I think your point is well taken," Cas said to him. "She does need to train more. I've been lax in that regard. As soon as she is healthy again, that will be a priority, I promise you."

"You realize that won't be for a while, right?" Frank said. His expression turned serious. "Those skin graft operations are no joke. She's  gonna be in a lot of pain for quite a while."

Cas sighed. "I know, Frank. I just wish there was more that I could do for her."

"Me too," Frank agreed. Cas looked at him, and Frank hastily amended, "I meant, I wish I could do more for her. I'm not blaming you, Cas."

Cas couldn't believe how conciliatory Frank was being towards him now. He felt a momentary stab of guilt, but then he remembered Gail's admonishment to him. She was right. They both had to try to let that time go, if they could. For most of his existence,  Castiel had been making huge mistakes, and then letting his guilt over having made them eat him alive for years afterwards. Then he'd make another, and another, and then compound the situation by smothering himself under a blanket of guilt and regret. Lather, rinse, repeat. The cycle had to end, now.

"I have blamed myself for so many things over the centuries, Frank,"  Castiel said to Gail's brother. "And rightfully so, for the most part. But your sister is also teaching me that hanging onto that guilt is unhealthy. She's been so very good to me, Frank, and she's been very good FOR me. I've been in love with her since the day we met, but I can assure you, I also respect her now, beyond any measure."

Frank was impressed by what Cas was saying, and he was just opening his mouth to tell him so when they heard Sam's yell.

Cas and Frank dropped the bags and ran down the stairs, drawing their weapons on the way. They could hear the sounds of fighting now. As they ran towards the sound, they exchanged worried glances. What was going on? They hadn't really expected there to be any trouble here, even though Bobby had made it sound like they were being sent here because they were his A squad. Had Mark come back?

But when they rushed into the living room, what they saw was a handful of Demons, and Sam and Dean were fighting with them. Cas and Frank went to join the fray, but the instant a silver-haired Demon saw them, he told the others to stop.

"Why?" one of the other Demons said angrily. He had knocked Sam into the wall, just playing with him, and he had been about to do it again.

"Because these two are ours," the first Demon said, indicating Cas and Frank.

"Yours? What are you talking about?" Dean panted.

"I've seen them both in Hell," the Demon responded.

Dean laughed shortly. He had another Demon down on the floor, his Demon blade was out, and he had been just about to give the guy a circumcision, Winchester-style. " So what?" Dean scoffed. "We've all been there, at some point."

The Demon did a double-take, and then he looked back at Cas and Frank. He pointed to Gail's brother. "You're a Knight of Hell," he said, and then he pointed at Cas. "And, you...well, I don't know what you are, but I saw Crowley take you into one of the torture rooms and then I saw you come out, covered in blood."

Cas was horrified. Would this kind of thing never end? He looked at Frank, to see how he would react.

Frank was livid. "I guess you didn't get the memo," he said to the silver-haired Demon. "I'm not an Anything of Hell any more. And you saw Crowley take Cas into the torture room and he came out, with blood all over him? You bastards obviously tortured him, Einstein! Say hello to your King for me." He threw his Demon knife and it stuck the silver-haired Demon right in the chest. He fell to the floor, dead.

" Attaboy , Frank!" Dean yelled cheerfully. He slit the throat of the Demon who was underneath him, then bounced to his feet to stab another one.

Sam launched himself at the Demon who had been attacking him and tackled It, then he stabbed the Demon in the chest.

Two other Demons grabbed Frank's arms, but  Castiel punched one of them in the face and stabbed the other with his Angel blade, giving Frank a chance to free himself from their grip. As Frank ran over to retrieve his knife from the silver-haired Demon's chest, Dean reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out another Demon knife, tossing it to Cas, who caught it cleanly. Dean had offered it to him before they'd left the bunker, but Cas had demurred, thinking they would face no danger here. Yet another mistake. But Dean was helping him to rectify that now. Cas dropped his Angel blade and used the Demon knife to finish off the one he had stabbed.

The Demon he had punched dove for Cas's blade and grabbed it, but just before he could stab Cas with it, Sam drove his Demon knife deep into Its back, and the Demon fell forward onto Its face. Sam caught the Angel blade before it hit the ground and tapped Cas on the shoulder with it. "You might want to hang onto this," he said, grinning. Cas smiled briefly and took it back from him.

The Demons were all dead now, and the men were bloody. Frank looked around the living room. "What a mess," he remarked. "It's a good thing Felicia and Robbie aren't coming back here."

Cas glanced down at the floor by the fireplace. The mantel had been shattered by the Demons' blasts, but Ignatius's gavel was still intact, and it was laying there amongst the rubble. He walked over and picked it up, wiping it on his pants, and stashed it in his pocket alongside his blade.

"Guess I'll have to do a laundry," Frank said, looking down at himself. "I didn't bring too many clothes."

Cas smiled at him. "Your sister can take care of that, if she's up to it."

Dean looked at him. "Since when?"

Cas was still smiling. "We're both discovering some previously untapped powers and abilities," he remarked.

"Well, that one might be a bit mundane, but it'll sure help me out a lot," Sam said, answering Cas's smile. "Less laundry, more time for research."

"Why is it every time I see you lately, there's a dead Demon under you, and a bloody knife in your hand?"

Crowley appeared in front of Dean, shaking his head slowly. Frank stepped forward, raising his knife, but Crowley lifted his arm and Frank was immobilized against the opposite wall. Crowley turned around to look at him. "Don't get frisky, now," he admonished Gail's brother.

Then Crowley turned back around to look at  Castiel . "I should have known you would be involved," he said dryly. "Funny how my staff managed to survive just fine until you joined this lot." He indicated the other men.

"They went on the offensive," Cas told Crowley. At least, he assumed that was probably true. Frankly, he didn't care, one way or the other.

"Well, you would know all about being offensive," Crowley quipped.

"Shut up, Crowley," Frank snapped.

" Awww .  Castiel's made a new friend," Crowley said mockingly. He looked at Frank again. "It wasn't too long ago that you two were at loggerheads, as I recall."

"Yeah, well, I don't work for you  anymore ," Frank retorted. "And Cas has forgiven me for that."

Crowley smiled sarcastically, looking at  Castiel . This was too good. "You've forgiven Frank. How magnanimous of you. Well, I guess family dinners will be a lot more pleasant, now that Gail won't have to hide the knives whenever her brother comes over. Though you may have to cut her meat for a while, poor thing. How is she doing? I could try putting my hands on her again, if you want. It may not do her much good, but I'm pretty sure it would benefit me immensely."

Cas rushed Crowley and grabbed him by the throat, holding the bloody Demon knife to his face. "I think I'll start with that big mouth of yours," he snarled. Crowley could feel the cold edge of the knife digging into his cheek.

"Cas..." Dean said. He took a step forward, but then he stopped. Why should he intervene? Crowley had been asking for this for years.

"Moose? Squirrel?" Crowley said hopefully, looking at them.

"What?" Sam said, smiling.

"Tell the Enforcer here that I'm not the enemy," Crowley told them.

"I don't think we will," Dean said casually. "In fact, I think I'll make some popcorn, so we can enjoy the show."

Castiel cut Crowley's cheek with the knife. "It had better be microwave popcorn, then," he said with grim  humour . "The show will be a silent movie in a moment, when half of his face is gone."

Crowley could feel the blood running down his face.  Castiel was still cutting him slowly, taking his time. He was really going to do it this time, Crowley thought. But just as he was about to snap his fingers, Sam and Dean rushed forward and grabbed his arms, shackling him with pentagram handcuffs.

"It's OK, Crowley. Plenty of people go on to lead full lives with half of their faces missing," Sam told the King of Hell.

"Wait!" Crowley yelled. "Don't do it! You need me!"

Cas smiled thinly. "Really? What on earth for?"

"I have information on Lucifer's whereabouts," Crowley told them.

"He's lying," Frank said.

"No, I'm not," Crowley assured them. "That's why I came here. I've been trying to call Bobby on the Hotline, but he hasn't been answering."

"He's in the bunker," Sam said.

"I figured that," Crowley said irritably. The blade was starting to hurt his face. " So I came here, to share the information. I can't access the bunker, as you all know.  So if you're finished giving me my shave,  Castiel , I'll take my hot towel. Then you can stand down, and I'll tell you what I know," he added sardonically. He was damned if he was going to show fear to his Brother.

Cas's hand tightened on Crowley's throat. He wanted to do it, anyway. But Sam and Dean were taking the handcuffs off now and letting go of Crowley's arms, and  Castiel guessed he had no choice but to hear Crowley out. He probably was lying, but Cas couldn't afford to take that chance. He took a deep breath, and with a great effort, he let go of Crowley and stepped back. "Speak," he growled.

Crowley almost rolled his eyes. What did  Castiel think he was, a dog? But he restrained himself from making a smart remark. His throat hurt, and his face was bleeding. He took the handkerchief out of his breast pocket and shook it out, blotting his cheek with it.

"There have been defections," Crowley told them. "Some of my employees have apparently decided the grass may be greener. I've isolated five cities where the defectors have been gathering  en masse. It's only logical to assume that Lucifer must be in one of them."

"That's your information?"  Castiel said scornfully. "He COULD be in one of five cities?"

"Tell me: what have your leads been up to this point?" Crowley retorted. Silence. "I thought so," he added resentfully. The handkerchief was soaked now. Sure, he had been giving  Castiel a bit of a hard time, but that was just the way the two of them were with each other. Hardly an excuse to carve someone's face up. Gail must be a little too preoccupied with her own troubles right now to assist  Castiel in keeping a rein on his temper, or at least, to take the edge off his frustrations.

"How many of those cities have a pro football team?" Frank asked, prying himself away from the wall. Crowley had released Frank the moment that his Brother had released him. But Crowley would definitely have to keep an eye on Frank, as well.

"You tell me," Crowley replied. "I only follow proper football."

Sam frowned. "What are the cities, Crowley?" he asked impatiently.

"New Orleans, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Miami, and Detroit," Crowley responded.

"So, all of them. Great," Sam said, sighing.

"Well, at least we've got it narrowed down," Dean pointed out.

"That's if he's even telling the truth,"  Castiel said. His eyes were narrowed as he regarded Crowley. He wouldn't put it past the King of Hell to be making this up just to save his own miserable hide. But, just on the off chance that the Demons that were out there could be of use to them still, they had better leave Crowley alone for the time being. He glared at the King.

His Brother knew what  Castiel was thinking, and he smiled. They had never played the actual board game opposite one another, but he and  Castiel had played lots of chess over the years, nonetheless. As long as Lucifer was at large,  Castiel would be forced to keep himself from harming Crowley. How sweet.

"You know I'm telling the truth," Crowley said to him. "You know how prickly I can get when someone is threatening my Kingdom, don't you,  Castiel ?" Once again, Crowley was making a veiled reference to the time when  Castiel had been a Demon. Frank still didn't remember, and Crowley was pretty sure that Sam didn't, either. Was Gail still in the dark? Crowley wondered. Possibly not. He had planted the thought in her head the day that he and Gail had looked at her blade, and it seemed as though Gail might have been regaining her memories even back then. But she would have forgiven  Castiel , of course. Because she loved him. It was enough to make Crowley sick.

"Forgiving and forgetting are two different things, though," Crowley said angrily.  Castiel's eyes narrowed again. Crowley looked at him, wondering if he had said that out loud. He hadn't meant to.

"What are you babbling about?"  Castiel asked him sharply. Knowing what Crowley knew, he probably shouldn't be asking him that. But it had come straight out of the blue, and  Castiel was angry that he had to stand there watching that mouth move when he had been seconds away from removing it from its owner's face.

"Do you really want me to say?" Crowley said slyly, looking at Frank and Sam. "Suffice it to say that I hope Gail recovers soon. Otherwise, I get the feeling that her injuries will prove catastrophic to your relationship. No pun intended, this time."

Cas was angry, but he was also alarmed. What did Crowley mean by that statement? How could Gail's injuries affect their relationship? Cas wanted her to heal quickly for her own sake, and because he hated to see her in so much pain. But he would care for her for as long as it took, however long it took. Was Crowley making some disgusting reference to the fact that Cas couldn't make love to her as enthusiastically as he would like to, because of her injuries? As if that mattered to him. Cas had been able to make her happy before he'd left the bunker, and when they had some time alone together next, he was sure that he could do a couple of other things for her in that regard, if she wanted him to. All it took was a little creativity. But it was all right with Cas, one way or the other. If all that she wanted to do was kiss and cuddle until she was well, that was fine with him, too. But he was fairly confident that she could be gently persuaded to accept him giving her the occasional pleasure, to try to offset the pain a little. If that was the only thing he could do for her right now, at least it was something.

"If any of your 'employees' touches her again, they'll be dealing with me,"  Castiel said coldly. "And the only reason you're still standing right now is because there's a remote chance that you may still be useful to us. But I'm warning you: stay out of my business, Crowley."

"It's not me you need to worry about," Crowley retorted. "And it's not my staff you have to worry about, either. It's Lucifer who's the biggest threat to your relationship,  Castiel . Remember what I said:  the Devil comes to you disguised as everything you've ever wanted. I've built my Kingdom out of that fact. Don't allow her wounds to transform you into someone that you are not. And the same goes for Gail. There. Don't ever say that I didn't warn you."

Crowley glanced down at the dead Demons. "This lot was about to defect, anyway. That was why they came here; they were looking for Mark.  So all of you only did what I would have done, anyway. I probably would have tortured them first, just on general principles, but...each to their own.  So I'll give you a pass, this time. The truce remains in force."

Then he snapped his fingers and vanished.

Cas winked his human friends back to the bunker. But instead of taking them directly to the library area, he diverted them to the hallway and outside Gail's room first.

"Let me speak to Gail for a moment," Cas told them. "Wait here. If she feels up to it, she can clean you all up first, before Robbie sees you. And me too, of course. Our appearance might be a bit shocking for someone so young."

The men looked at each other. One or maybe all of them had been about to make a smartass comment about Cas just looking for an excuse to see Gail, but they thought it was actually very sensitive of him to think about it that way. The kid might very well be upset to see them with all that blood on them; he didn't even know them very well, yet. They didn't want him to think they were monsters, or anything a boy that age might think. They had all been boys his age, once. Even  Castiel .

Cas knocked lightly on the door and then went in, closing the door behind him.

"Oh, my God. What happened?" Gail said, alarmed by Cas's appearance. She tried to sit up, but pain stabbed her in the stomach and she had to sink back down onto the pillows.

Cas rushed over to the bed. "I'm all right, and so is everyone else," he told her. "Please don't try to move like that again, Gail. I can't stand seeing you in so much pain."

She shook her head. He was covered in blood, yet he was worried about her.

Cas told her about the events at the house, and Gail's head spun. So, scores of Demons were apparently deserting Crowley to join Lucifer. Great. That was all they needed. And she could tell that Cas had deliberately minimized the ferocity of his encounter with Crowley, but she could picture it just as if she'd been in the room. Gail didn't necessarily have a problem with it, but she also wondered what Crowley's cryptic remarks near the end of their exchange had been all about. Cas had shared those with her; since Crowley had been speaking about her, Cas thought that Gail had the right to know. Besides, he knew that it was not healthy for a relationship to hide things from each other. Sam and Dean had often done that in the past, and it had never worked out well. That was a big part of why Cas had told Dean to disclose the big secret to Sam. The brothers hadn't had the chance to have that conversation yet, but Cas was dreading the fallout that would inevitably ensue. That was why he was glad that Gail had given her endorsement to continuing to keep it from Frank. Crowley had scared Cas, though. There would be nothing that would please his Brother more than to turn Gail's brother against Cas again. Cas would have to try his best to keep the two of them apart in the future. Of course, if Crowley were dead, he wouldn't be able to impart any secrets, would he? That thought cheered him, and he smiled.

"What are you smiling about?" Gail asked him.

"I'm just so happy to see you," Cas replied. And that was true, as it always had been. He took her hand. "I'm here to ask you a  favour , but only if you're up to it. If you're not, please be honest and just say so."

She looked at him, curious. "Sure, Cas. What is it?"

He told her, and she smiled thinly. Finally, something constructive she could do with that particular power. "Sure. Bring them in," she said.

Cas admitted Frank, Dean and Sam into the room and Gail waved her hand over each of the four men, cleaning the blood from them.

"I've  gotta say, that's pretty impressive," Dean told her.

"I wish you'd been able to do that years ago," Frank said, smirking. "Think of all the trips to the laundromat I could have saved. Not to mention the quarters, for the video games."

Gail smiled weakly at the men. Truthfully, the act had taken a bit out of her, and she was in considerable pain from having moved so abruptly earlier. But Cas had that worried look on his face now, and she didn't want to stay here in bed all day. Screw the pain; now that the guys were back, she wanted to be included in any conversations they were going to have.

"I want to come out and see everybody," she said to them. "Can you guys help me?"

Cas and Frank exchanged glances, and they were both frowning. She looked pale, and her hand was shaking.

"I see you two," Gail said. "And I appreciate the concern. But if you refuse, I'll just pop out there anyway and lie on the floor, if I have to."

Frank grinned at Cas. "We might as well help her, Cas. You know she'll actually do that, don't you?"

Cas smiled and nodded. "Yes, I know, Frank."

Dean was watching the two of them, and now he was reconsidering his request to let Sam in on the secret. If Sam were to be told, he would probably freak out again. If he even believed Dean, that was. That would be the wildest, most outrageous thing that Dean had ever told him, or had ever kept from him. But now, Dean was seriously questioning any possible upside to telling Sam. Cas and Frank were getting along great now, Gail was OK with Cas, and maybe Sam didn't need to know.

"I've got this, Cas," Dean said, and he moved forward to lift Gail from the bed. "I've decided not to tell Sam, after all," he whispered in her ear. Gail looked at him for a moment, and then she gave him a small nod. Truthfully, she was extremely relieved. Even though she hadn't said anything at the time, Gail had been concerned about Sam being told the secret. She remembered the animosity that Sam had felt towards Cas at the time, and even though some time had passed and Cas was back to normal now, she could not really see any point in stirring things up by talking about it.

Impulsively, Gail kissed Dean on the cheek as he was transferring her into the wheelchair. "Thanks, Dean," she said to him. He gave her a nod.

Cas and Frank picked up the bags they'd packed at the house, and the four men accompanied Gail down the hall and into the library area.

Cas had sent a message to Bobby on Angel Radio, giving him the report on what had happened at the house. But Bobby had told no one who was assembled here, nor did he intend to. There would be no benefit to telling anyone that Demons had attacked their friends, and he didn't want to spook Felicia any further.

Frank brought Robbie's bag over to him, and he was glad when the boy opened it to see a stack of comic books, and his action figures. Felicia had been sitting on the couch talking with Jody, and she rose when she heard Robbie's squeal of glee. When she saw what was in the bag, she looked up at Frank and smiled, thanking him. Jody also rose from the couch, and she touched Frank's arm on the way back to her seat at the library table. "Way to go, fella," she said softly, and Frank smiled, then moved to sit beside Gail at the table.

Cas gave Felicia her suitcase, accepting her thanks, but then he was alarmed to see Robbie running towards Gail. She flinched. The kid was cute, but if he jumped in her lap right now, he would probably kill her. But he ran around the wheelchair, giving her a wide berth, and jumped into Frank's lap instead, giving him a hug. "Thanks!" Robbie said to him. Then he jumped off of Frank's lap and walked around Gail's wheelchair again, avoiding it as if touching it would burn him.

Robbie looked at Gail. "I'm sorry I hurt you. My mom told me never to hurt a lady, ever. It's the worst thing a guy can do."

Tears sprang to Gail's eyes. If this kid didn't kill her physically, he might do it emotionally. She couldn't help but glance at Cas. His jaw was clenched, and his expression was grim.

"That's all right, Robbie, I know you didn't mean to," Gail said to the boy.

"Are you  gonna get better?" he asked her.

"Robbie!" his mother said sharply.

Gail smiled. "That's OK," she said to Felicia. She looked at Robbie again. "I am going to get better. It'll just take a little time."

"OK. Good," Robbie said, and he ran back over to where his mother was.

Cas was the one who was pale now, and he was staring at Gail forlornly. She could see that he was trying to keep his emotions under control, and that he was losing the battle.

"Bobby, can you give us a moment?" Cas said in a shaky voice.

Bobby understood what was going on. "Yeah, Cas. Take five, everybody."

Cas rushed over to Gail and winked her out of the bunker. The days were growing shorter now, and the sun was already preparing to set. She looked at the sky. How many sunrises and sunsets had they watched out here together, and under very different circumstances? And now, here was another.

Cas took off his blazer and draped it around her shoulders. Then he knelt on the ground in front of her, taking both of her hands in his.

"Out of the mouths of babes," Cas said.

Gail nodded. She'd known how that was going to affect him. "Yeah," she agreed, sighing.

"I feel..." Cas started to say. Then he cleared his throat and tried again. "I feel like I will never be able to make it up to you. And I feel that you should not have forgiven me so easily."

"Easily?" Gail echoed. She laughed, but it was a  humourless laugh. "Forgiving you was the hardest thing I've ever done, Cas. And now, I've had to do it twice. Why do you think that I suggested you go out on the road with the guys? I meant it when I said I needed time to heal. To tell you the truth, I wish my memory had never come back. But you can't keep doing this to me. First you, then God. At least God asked me first before he messed with my mind." She sighed heavily. "OK, I guess I am still mad. I don't like to be lied to, and I don't deserve to be manipulated. And you've done both. There. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Yes. It is,"  Castiel said quietly. "It is what I wanted to hear." He squeezed her hands gently, looking her straight in the eyes. "I would give anything to take it all back, Gail. Anything."

"I know," she said sadly. "Me too. But life doesn't work like that, does it?"

They were both silent for a moment. Then Gail looked up at the sky again. The sun was setting over the horizon, and the sight made her shiver. It seemed like a bad omen, somehow. But that was ridiculous. As long as Lucifer and the other two were out there somewhere, everything was a bad omen. And they were wasting time now.

"Take me back inside, Cas," Gail said to him. "We have to go looking for Lucifer; otherwise, he'll come looking for... us." She had almost said "for me". Because that was what was going to happen, she was sure of it. Lucifer wanted to cut  Castiel's heart out, didn't he? She'd better hurry up and heal, then, because she was sure he wasn't going to wait much longer.

Bobby had a plan, and when Cas and Gail returned, he gave everyone their new assignments.

"I'm  gonna pair you up, and send you out to the five cities," he advised the group.

"What five cities?" Linda asked.

Right. He hadn't told them about the Demon attacks, so they wouldn't know that Crowley had given the boys that lead. "I have intelligence that suggests that Lucifer is in one of these cities," Bobby answered vaguely. Frank and Kevin, you'll go to New Orleans. Jody and Linda, to Indianapolis. Sam and Chuck, Pittsburgh. Dean and Ethan to Detroit." He paused. "And Cas and Becky to Miami."

Bobby had chosen the teams carefully, and with purpose. He had to pair an Angel with a human on each team for quick transport. Kevin needed more training, and Frank was a great fighter. Jody and Linda didn't know each other very well, but both women were fierce. Bobby was aware that Dean and Chuck were like oil and water, so he'd paired Sam with Chuck, as Sam was the more tolerant of the two brothers. Dean seemed to have more respect for Ethan, so Bobby had put the two of them together. And Bobby would have loved to have put Cas and Gail together, but Gail was not even close to being well enough to go out in the field. Bobby had considered going out himself, but he knew that he was in no condition for a physical fight. You would think that a guy who had the job title of God wouldn't let anything hold him back. Was he afraid to come face to face with Lucifer again? Could he be that much of a coward? No, that wasn't it, Bobby told himself. He had Heaven to run, after all. He could keep an eye on  everyone and deploy them all as needed. Also, he should stay by the Hotline in case Crowley called with some more information. He told himself all of this, and it sounded perfectly logical to him. Bobby wasn't afraid of Lucifer, he was just being a good administrator.

As expected, some of the group reacted better than others. Frank frowned, looking at Kevin. The kid tried hard, but he wasn't much of a fighter. Frank would much rather have had Cas, or Ethan again. Or Jody, he thought, smiling to himself. But then he thought about it. Frank supposed that Bobby was complimenting him by putting him with a weaker partner. And they'd all had to start somewhere, hadn't they? Frank had been taught by his father. But Kevin must not have a father, Frank guessed.  So he said nothing. He vowed he would take it upon himself to train Kevin more.

Linda and Jody exchanged glances. They were both strong, independent women, and they figured they'd be just fine.

Sam had frowned momentarily upon hearing that he'd be paired with Chuck, but his antipathy towards Chuck was offset by his excitement at being able to go back on the road. He really hoped Lucifer was in Pittsburgh; he owed that son of a bitch some payback. And Sam liked how Chuck was with Cas and Gail. He really was a good guy now. Yeah, Sam figured he could work with Chuck.

Dean was fairly happy to have been paired with Ethan. He did have some respect for the young Angel. If he had to be with an Angel at all, he guessed that next to Cas, of course, Ethan was the best one of the  bunch . Or Gail, but her injuries had taken her out of the  equation .

Cas was a little annoyed that he had been saddled with Becky. Intellectually, he understood it. He was the strongest one Bobby had. Becky was extremely weak, and she would need to be protected. But he didn't understand why he should have to play nursemaid to Becky. Couldn't she just stay behind and help Bobby to look after Gail? Cas would be just fine on his own.

Bobby could figure out what most of them were thinking, and he couldn't help but agree with a few of their thoughts. But he hadn't wanted Kevin and his mother together because of their mother-son relationship anyway, and the fact that they were both Angels provided just the excuse he needed. He also hadn't wanted to pair Sam and Becky, because of their history. That would be way too uncomfortable, for both of them. And Dean wasn't a sexist, but Bobby knew he'd be more comfortable being with Ethan. Dean had a tendency to whine a bit when he didn't get his way, and he'd just had to room with Chuck, which had not made him happy. Which left Cas and Becky. Bobby thought that Becky could benefit from being paired with Cas. She was flighty and gossipy, but Bobby also knew her heart was in the right place. Cas would be solicitous and protective towards her. Bobby had seen Cas's face when Robbie had made his innocent comment. Angel Cas got it.

That left poor Gail. Well, she was going to have to stay in the bunker to recuperate, anyway. At least Cas should be happy that she would continue to be here under the umbrella of the bunker's protections. She couldn't possibly be in any danger just staying here reading and doing research.

Everyone  rose from their chairs, and the humans went to their respective rooms to throw some clothes in duffel bags. Then each pair went to the weapons room to borrow what they needed.

"You and Robbie will stay here with Gail while everyone's gone," Bobby told Felicia. "This place has every possible protection. I'll be in and out, too. Maybe you can help Gail do some research, if you want. There's a TV for Robbie, and you can put him to bed in one of the spare rooms."

Felicia was thanking him just as Frank and Kevin came out to the library area. "All set," Frank said. Robbie looked up at him. "Are you going somewhere?" he asked Frank.

Gail's brother smiled at the boy. "Yeah. We're going to go get the bad guys," he told Robbie.

The child hugged Frank's leg. "I want you to stay here."

Felicia smiled sadly. Robbie obviously missed Mark. Even though her son hadn't mentioned his father since they had arrived here in the bunker, Felicia was sure that Robbie was gravitating towards Frank as a substitute father figure. After all, Frank was the one who had brought her son his comic books and action figures from the house.

Frank gave Felicia a subtle shrug. Then he bent down and tousled Robbie's hair. "Sorry, kiddo, but the X-Men have to go protect the world. We'll see you soon."

Gail smiled. She remembered how Frank had been with her when she had been around Robbie's age. "Do I get a 'kiddo', too, for old times' sake?" she said, holding open her arms to him.

"You certainly do," Frank said to her. He knelt down in front of her wheelchair and gave her a gentle hug. "I'm glad you'll be here, safe," Frank told her.

Gail frowned. "I'm not," she said to him. "I wish I could be out there with you guys."

"Well, I'm glad you won't be," Frank said firmly, "and I know that Cas is, too."

"Cas is what?" Dean said, emerging from the hallway accompanied by Ethan.

"Glad Gail is staying here," Frank said to him.

Dean nodded. "Me, too." Ethan added, "So am I."

Gail rolled her eyes. "OK. Enough, already. I get it." She let out a frustrated breath. "Everybody just  make sure you take one of those cell phones Bobby brought." She looked at Frank and Dean. "The Angels can call me on our Radio, but you guys can't. And he's got laptops for you, too. Sam's leaving me his."

"See if you can hack it," Dean joked. "I think he keeps a diary."

"It's called a journal," Sam said from behind his brother. "And I wouldn't suggest reading it, Dean, unless you want to see all of the names I've called you over the years."

Gail smirked. "Now, I HAVE to find it."

Sam and Dean gave her a hug each, and so did Chuck. "Are you OK?" he asked her softly. Next to Cas, he was the one who felt like he knew the most about how she felt about her experiences with Demon Cas, and Chuck could tell she was still struggling with the concepts of acceptance and forgiveness.

"Yeah, Chuck, I'll be OK," she told him in a quiet voice.

"Just be careful, Gail," he said.

"Of what?" she said, half-smiling. "You guys are the ones who are going out there. I'll be laying around here, watching TV and eating bonbons."

"I don't know," Chuck said soberly. "I'm getting a tickle, Gail. I haven't seen anything yet, but I just have a general feeling."

"Great," she said, making a face.

"If I get anything concrete, anything at all, I'll let you know," Chuck said, taking her hand.

"Mind if I cut in?" Cas quipped. Chuck gave Gail's hand a brief squeeze, then Cas moved to her side and took her hand in both of his. The rest of the group moved discreetly away.

Cas knelt at the side of her chair. "You remember what I said about calling if you need me?"

"Yeah, Cas.  Of course I will," Gail replied.

"Do you still need me?" he asked her worriedly.

Gail sighed. "Yes, I do, Cas. I just need time. But you wanted me to tell you how I felt, so I was honest with you. That's the way that things are supposed to work in relationships, as far as I know."

"I've taken the lesson," Cas told her. "I will never lie to you or conceal anything from you again."

Gail touched his face. "OK, Cas. That's all I ask."

"Wrap it up, Cas. Let's go," Bobby said.

Cas leaned forward to kiss Gail on the mouth. "I'll call you," he said to her.

"Take care of yourself, and take care of Becky," Gail said.

Cas stood and went over to join the group, still looking at Gail. She looked so sad, and so vulnerable. He hoped they could track down Lucifer soon, so that he wouldn't have to leave her side again.

Lucifer was in his element now. Every sermon he gave was just a little more outrageous than the last. He'd had  Aurielle record his sermons, and Mark had shown her how to post them online. Lucifer had made reference to the first signs of Armageddon happening  overseas and told everyone that it was soon going to move closer to home.

"Here it comes, you're saying," Lucifer said. "'Repent, for Armageddon is at hand', right? Nope! I'm here to tell you to keep on going. In fact, you should indulge yourselves more. If the end of the world is coming, we might as well make the most of things, folks. So, Love Thy  Neighbour . In fact, love her twice, if you can safely do so before her husband gets home." He smiled charmingly. "Sorry. I tend to get carried away sometimes. Maybe that's because I've never actually had the pleasure, myself. But don't worry about me, everyone. I'm just saving myself for the right woman. But you folks go ahead and have as much sex as you want. In fact, have extra. No sense saving it up, the way the world's going. And thanks for all the donations. Allison's getting closer to having her first operation. See you soon. Love  God and love each other. As often as possible." Another roguish grin. "Gordon, out."

Aurielle shut the camera off, and Lucifer scowled. "Go ahead and post that, for the tens of people that are watching." He turned to Mark. "What have you been doing?" he snarled. "Why aren't we national yet?"

Mark frowned. "I've been making the rounds, but I haven't been able to persuade anybody to pick us up nationally. You're too controversial. America is conservative. Strait-laced."

Lucifer's eyes flashed red. "Conservative?! Have you seen what politicians and public figures do behind closed doors?"

"That's in private," Mark shot back. "In public, they're religious, and they're politically correct in everything they say and do. Maybe you should conform a bit more, at least for now."

Lucifer's eyes flashed again. That first time should have been Mark's warning. Lucifer crooked his little finger and Mark went flying across the room. He went tumbling over the meeting table. The pitcher of water and drinking glasses that had been sitting in the middle of the table smashed, and shards of broken glass landed everywhere.

"You don't tell me how to conduct myself," Lucifer said furiously. "I'm the boss here, and it'll be done my way."

Mark picked himself up off the floor. "I'm sorry, my Lord. You're right. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that."

Lucifer was mollified. At least when Mark screwed up, he admitted it, and apologized right away.  Aurielle could take a lesson from him. "Yeah, OK. Whatever," Lucifer said irritably. "Get out, and don't come back until you have a contract for me to sign."

Mark rushed out of the room, and Lucifer turned his gaze on  Aurielle . "Well? What are you waiting for?" he asked her.

Aurielle sighed and rose from the computer. She walked over to where the broken glass lay and started to pick it up, putting it in a dustpan she kept handy. This wasn't the first cleanup job she'd had to do in Lucifer's service. He seemed a little more short-tempered these days.

"What's bothering you?"  Aurielle asked him, keeping her eyes downcast. "You seem extremely upset."

The question would have made him angry if it had come from anyone else, but for some reason, Lucifer could take it coming from her. "This isn't happening fast enough," he told her. "I'm having some fun, but not nearly as much as I want to have. I need an outlet,  Aurielle ."

"Well, don't look at me," she said sharply, hissing in pain as the broken glass cut her hands. Not that he would care, of course. But she had probably just blown the chance for Lucifer to heal her after the job was done.

Ever the enigma, Lucifer threw his head back and laughed.  Aurielle was fairly docile now, but every once in a while, she still sassed him like that, and he found that he didn't really mind. He kind of liked a woman with some spirit. That was one reason why he was looking forward to his encounter with Gail so much, and why he had been saving himself for her. He could have hired any number of women by now to pleasure him, or have taken them by force, if he chose. Even  Aurielle , if he could stand the look of her scarred face for long enough. Actually, he wouldn't even have to look at it, with some of the positions that he had in mind. But he was waiting,  savouring the anticipation. And he didn't intend to take Gail by force, either. He would cultivate her, and she would submit to him willingly. But just before they did the deed, he would tell her who he really was, so she would put up a fight just before he took her. That would be sweet. He was getting a little edgy now, though. It would have to be soon, before he exploded. All this thinking about sex was making him nuts.

She was frowning. "What's the matter,  Aurielle ? A little frustrated, are we? Well, join the club," he said to her.

"You haven't lived up to any of your promises," she said sulkily, rising to dump the broken glass into the garbage. "I don't know why I stay here. You clearly have no intention of helping me with my goal."

"Yes, I do," Lucifer said. "But it's not that time, yet."

"No?" she said, laughing shortly. "Well, when will be the time, then?"

She was starting to irritate him now. But, somewhat irrationally, Lucifer didn't want her getting so impatient with him that she walked out on him, either. She had been of great use to him so far, and he loved her sweet servility. He walked up to her, looking down at her face. "I don't think you'd want him to see you looking like that, would you?" he said to her.

"Well, you won't let me get another vessel!" she exclaimed.

He considered that. She had a point there. "OK, I'll tell you what," he said magnanimously. "If you promise to come back, I'll let you borrow another vessel for a bit. I know where he is, and Gail isn't with him. You can go and visit him for a couple of hours. If you're able to seduce him, you'll be doing me a  favour , actually. It'll be easier for both of us if he and Gail break up, and you know she won't stand for that from him."

Lucifer knew there was no way in hell this was going to work. It didn't matter whose face and body  Aurielle was wearing at the time. But it would shut  Aurielle up for the time being. If she was unsuccessful, she'd have no one to blame but herself.

Aurielle smiled widely. "That would be great," she enthused.

"I'll send you to him as someone he already knows, to give you a better chance," Lucifer told her. "But remember, I want you back. And I'll know where you are.  So don't make me come looking for you, or your body will match your face the next time I see you."

Aurielle quickly promised him, and Lucifer took her hand and winked them to Vancouver.

Frank and Kevin were in New Orleans, and Frank was looking out the window of their hotel room as Kevin surfed the Internet.

"The signs have already started," Kevin was saying. "Weird storms in Europe. Earthquakes, hail, a river of blood in Germany."

Frank turned around to look at him. "A river of blood?"

"Yeah." Kevin sighed, sitting back in his chair. "And rampant forest fires in the Pacific Northwest. It's moving closer to home."

"Are you sure that's Armageddon?" Frank said with a half-smile. "None of that stuff is that unusual. Well, except for that river of blood, maybe."

"Chuck and I saw all of this and more  quite a while back, but we thought it was going to be Xavier causing it. That's why we worked so hard to try to prevent him from taking the High Office," Kevin said.

Frank sat down at the table across from the young Angel. "What's it like, being a Prophet?" he asked Kevin.

Kevin looked at him. "You really want to know?" Frank nodded. "It sucks, that's what it's like," Kevin told him. He closed the laptop. "People think it would be great, knowing what's going to happen. But it's not. Seeing all those terrible  things and knowing there's nothing you can do to stop it."

"Are you guys ever wrong?" Frank asked, curious.

Kevin frowned. "Not really. Sometimes we see things in different contexts, but a version of the events always ends up happening. And things are going to get worse, Frank."

"That's why we've got to get this guy," Frank said. "Any visions in that department?"

"He's not here, Frank. I'm sure of it. Between you and me, I think we're wasting our time here. But I'll keep my mind open, anyway. If I don't get any visions, or we don't see anything here in a couple of days, I'll contact Bobby." He gave Frank a small smile. "Too bad Mardi Gras isn't on. I wouldn't mind seeing a few girls earn their beads, if you know what I mean."

Frank laughed. "You and me both, kiddo. It's been a while for me, unfortunately," he said.

Kevin's smile faded. "Well, it was never, for me. I was killed before I ever had the chance."

Wow. Frank had never thought about Kevin in those terms before, or about any of them, really. Intellectually, he knew they were Angels, but it hadn't actually occurred to him that they'd had to die first in order to become Angels. But that was stupid. Gail had died, hadn't she, and she was an Angel now. Of course, Frank had died too, but Crowley had made him into a Demon instead, and he was a human now, having been delivered from Hell by Cas, when Cas was God. What a crazy world they lived in.

"I'm hoping to change my status, though," Kevin told Frank. "Now that your sister and Bobby have enacted the new laws, we're free to...um...express our affection for each other as Angels."

Frank was amused. Imagine that. No wonder Gail and Cas were always smooching. She must have worked day and night on those new laws. He would have to tease her about that the next time he saw her. He hoped she was doing all right. Frank hated seeing her in so much pain. A part of him was glad she was keeping her own face and body, though. It would be really weird if she looked like someone else.

"Well, since we have some free time, let's go," Frank said. He stood and pulled his knife out.

Kevin was startled. "What are you doing, Frank?" he asked.

"Let's go. Let's get you trained up some more," Frank said, waving the knife.

"Oh," Kevin said. He rose.

Gail was definitely not doing all right. She was already bored out of her skull, and she was worried about everyone.

Sam had left her some books and websites to go through, but she knew she was only going over the same ground he'd already covered, so she was going about it half-heartedly. And her stomach was killing her. She was only allowed three pills a day, Cas had told Felicia sternly, and Felicia was adamant that Gail couldn't have any more. But they didn't even seem to be working, anyway. Maybe it was because she was so tense. Lucifer,  Aurielle and Metatron were still out there, and so  were hordes of Demons, many of whom didn't seem to want to obey Crowley's orders any more.

She needed a diversion. Gail started surfing the Net idly, looking for something to keep her mind occupied. She checked on the status of Cas's show, and found out that the writers were on strike. Not that it really mattered, she supposed, but it seemed that he hadn't technically lost his job yet. It would be nice if he were able to go back soon, she thought, because that would mean that the current crisis was over. But Gail highly doubted that it would be that easy.

Then she came upon a link to a website that featured stories written by fans of the show, that were based on the show's characters. This looked like it had the potential to be entertaining. She scrolled down to look at the synopses of some of the stories.  Unbelievable . There were hundreds of stories here. Most of them featured Sam, Dean and Cas doing what they did, fighting monsters and Demons. Maybe she should read a few, to remind herself that they were very good at what they did. Maybe then she'd be less worried about them.

But when she clicked on a few that had looked promising, Gail's eyes widened. One story had the Winchester brothers and Cas getting really drunk and ending up in bed together. Really? She didn't know if she should be amused, or appalled. And another story had Sam and Dean in love, but not in the brotherly way. They had to be kidding with this stuff. Gail didn't care about a little erotica; in fact, she might have taken a peek at something featuring Cas in that regard, just to see. But Sam and Dean, together, in bed? That was just... ewww . She smiled. She could just imagine Dean's reaction to that. It was almost worth calling him on the cell phone Bobby had provided them all with just to tell him about it. But they were only supposed to use those to convey information to each other, not just to chat. And just because she was bored, didn't mean that the guys were. They could be dealing with any number of things out there.

Now she was starting to worry again. Gail continued to scroll down, and then she saw a story that so closely resembled her own in description that her jaw dropped open. The heading said that this was the first book of a series, and it described a brother and sister having been kidnapped by Demons, and the girl's escape from them, and her subsequent encounter with the Winchesters. Gail clicked eagerly on the story, and as she started to read it, she was stunned. This was her story. Not just similar to it; literally, her own story. Pretty much everything that had happened to her, Cas, the Winchesters, Frank, Crowley, Rowena...it was all here. How was that ever possible? Was there another Prophet out there that they didn't know about? Or had someone they knew written this, posting it under a screen name? But who did they know that was privy to most of the things that had happened, and would do something like that? Chuck was the first guy that came to mind; he was a literary type, and he was a Prophet. Could it be him? But why would he do something like that? Did he miss being an author that much?

Gail looked at the cell phone, considering what to do. This wasn't technically about the investigation, but she really wanted to know. She picked up the phone and hit the speed dial number for Chuck and Sam.

Chuck answered the phone. Sam had gone out for some food, and Chuck was alone.

"Gail!" he exclaimed, surprised to hear from her. "Is everything OK? Did you find something?"

"Yeah, but nothing about Lucifer," she told him. Then she filled Chuck in on what she had found, and how eerily similar it was to the events which had actually occurred. "Did you write it, Chuck?" Gail asked him.

Chuck was astonished. "No," he said. "I didn't, Gail. I swear." He started to think. Like Gail, he wondered who would know enough about Sam, Dean, Gail and Cas and their exploits to have been able to write about them so authoritatively. "And you say that's the first book of a series?"

"Yeah," Gail responded. "Hold on." She clicked some more, then scrolled down again. "It says there are 8 books posted here, and there will be more to come. What the hell, Chuck?"

"Just a minute, Gail," Chuck said. She could hear Sam's voice in the background. "It's Gail," Chuck was telling Sam. He listened for a moment, then said, "No, it's about something else."

Gail had clicked on the second story in the meantime, and as she scanned it, she gasped. Here was evil Chuck, and Metatron, and  Aurielle . This had to be written by someone they knew. Chuck wouldn't be lying to her, would he?

"Sam wants to talk to you," Chuck said. "I'm putting you on speaker phone."

Gail told them both what she was seeing. As she scrolled down, a couple of things occurred to her. She had almost forgotten about how much they had all been through together. And now she was also remembering why she had fallen in love with  Castiel in the first place. Maybe once she got off the phone with these guys, she'd read some more of this. She had never stopped loving him, not even during the awful time, but she did still feel a little cool towards him right now. This could be just the thing she needed to remind her of how good he truly was, and how good he had been to her before he had been poisoned.

Sam's brow was furrowed. Chuck said it wasn't him who had written those books, and he looked so puzzled and agitated that Sam believed him. So, who had, and why?

"You say there are other stories on that website, too?" Sam asked her.

"Sam, there are hundreds, maybe even thousands," Gail replied. She couldn't help herself: "And you wouldn't believe what they have you and Dean and Cas doing in some of them."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked her.

Gail was grinning now. "I saw one where you and Cas and Dean spent a hot, steamy night in bed together. And it wasn't in the tropics, and none of you were sleeping, if you catch my drift."

Sam and Chuck looked at each other. "Really?" Chuck said teasingly. "And you guys didn't invite me?"

"Are you joking around, Gail?" Sam asked her, bemused.

"Not even a little bit," Gail said cheerfully.

"Me and Dean? And Cas?" he said incredulously.

"Yep," she replied.

"Dean?!" Sam asked again. Gail was laughing now. Then Sam grinned. "I mean, Cas, I could see, but Dean?" he said.

Now they were all laughing. "It's a good thing you guys aren't rooming with Cas right now; I might be jealous," Gail teased.

Sam continued to grin. "I can't wait to tell Dean about this."

"Oh, please let me be in the room when you do," Gail said.

"Back to the stories you were telling us about," Chuck said. He was amused by the whole thing too, but what she had said about the stories she'd seen was kind of bothering him. He didn't want them to think that he was lying to them. That was the old him, and he definitely hadn't written them. "How accurate ARE they?"

"Pretty damn accurate, Chuck," Gail replied, making a face. Now she was wondering just how much detail was in the stories. There were obviously some things which had happened between her and Cas that were deeply personal, including what was going on between them right now. But there was no way that this mysterious author could know about Cas having been a Demon, and about the things that he had done, and they had done together. No way. Sam didn't even know about that.

"What's the author's screen name?" Sam asked her.

"'First Edition'," Gail answered him. But now she was wondering if she had made a very big mistake by telling Sam that. What did the other books say? She probably should have reviewed them first, before she'd told him that. Could whoever  wrote them possibly have written about the stuff they didn't want Sam to know about?

"You know what? I'm just being stupid," she said hurriedly, trying to minimize the potential damage. "I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

But Chuck was no fool. He could see the wheels spinning in Sam's head, and he'd heard the underlying panic in Gail's voice. "Yeah, it probably is," he agreed.

"I'd better get off the phone now," Gail said to them. "Bobby's gone back up to Heaven, but he'll kill me if he catches me using the phone for something like this. And, somebody else could be trying to call." That was a lame excuse, though, and she knew it. Any one of the Angels could call her on Angel Radio, or call Bobby that way, too. But now she just wanted to get off the phone and look at those  stories and see exactly what they said.

"Good point," Chuck said, trying to help her out. "Besides, Sam's food is getting cold."

They said their goodbyes, then Chuck told Sam, "I need a breath of fresh air. I'm going outside."

"Bobby wants the teams to stay together," Sam said pointedly, taking his dinner out of the bag.

"I'm not going to go anywhere, I'm just going to stand outside for a minute," Chuck assured him. "We don't get too much fresh air in Heaven."

Sam shrugged. "OK. Just don't wander off."

Chuck nearly rolled his eyes. Sam was better than his brother, but they both talked to Chuck like he was a child, or something. But he had a reason for wanting to go outside, so he let it alone. He left the motel room and looked around. He didn't see anyone, and dark had fallen now, so he felt safe enough. He winked himself out.

"Chuck! What the hell are you doing?" Gail exclaimed. His sudden appearance had startled her. Felicia came hurrying down the corridor when she'd heard Gail shout.

"It's OK, Felicia, I didn't mean to scare you," Gail said to her. "Chuck's just here to talk to me for a second. Do you mind if he and I speak alone?"

Felicia shrugged. No, she didn't mind. She'd been reading to Robbie, trying to get him to go to sleep, but Robbie was resistant. Gail had lent Felicia a book about a boy wizard from the bunker's library, and both Felicia and Robbie had been captivated by it. If Robbie wasn't sleeping when Felicia got back to his room, she would read to him a bit more. If he was sleeping, she would probably keep on reading it anyway. Gail was nice, but she seemed very preoccupied, and she hadn't been too talkative. Felicia needed something to do to keep her mind off Mark. She still couldn't believe what he had done. Would she ever see him again? But did she even want to, considering who he really was, and who he was serving?

When Felicia retreated, Chuck approached Gail. "How are you?" he asked her.

Gail frowned. In the couple of seconds that it had taken for Chuck to get here, she had already looked at Book 3 and then scrolled down, and sure enough, her first intimate encounters with Cas were recorded there. But the prose wasn't too explicit, and she was relieved by that. This part could have been written by anyone, really. It wasn't as if they had detailed every act that she and Cas had performed with each other, or anything. But she was still uneasy about the whole thing.

"Never mind that," she said to Chuck. She gestured to the computer. "What do you think about this?"

He moved around to her side of the table and looked at the screen. Crap, she thought. She still had the part with her and Cas in Las Vegas on there. The sequence was relatively short, and Gail had been planning to read it over again before Chuck had appeared. It had brought back a lot of sweet and warm memories for her, and she needed those right now.

Chuck glanced at what she'd been reading, and he smiled. "I should have figured as much," he teased her gently. "Could be somebody I know is missing somebody else I know. Reminiscing a little, maybe?"

"OK, you caught me, Chuck," Gail said, shaking her head. Now that she had her memories back, she knew that there was nothing to be embarrassed about when it came to Chuck. They'd spoken about a lot more personal things in the past.

"Do you mind?" he said, drawing up a chair. "Here, I'll minimize this for you," he added, still smiling. Gail rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, too.

"Where's the author's screen name?" he asked her, and she indicated with the mouse where she'd seen it. "Do they have a bio?" Chuck asked. She looked at him blankly. "You know, an author profile?" Chuck said.

Gail could have kicked herself. "Oh my God, Chuck. These painkillers are making me stupid," she groaned. She clicked on the author's name, "First Edition", and brought up another screen, and they both peered at it. Gail sighed. "Figures," she said. There was only an e-mail address, and a two-word sentence: "Reviews welcomed."

"Why don't you send them a review, Gail?" Chuck suggested. "If you can start up a correspondence with them, maybe we can figure out who it is."

"That's a good idea," Gail said, impressed. "Maybe you should hang around here with me for a while. You can be the brains of the operation."

Chuck laughed. "Seeing as I'm a coward, this would be the perfect place for me," he joked. But then his smile faltered, and his eyes became misty.

"Chuck?" Gail said hesitantly. "What's the matter?"

He held up his hand, and then she realized: he must be getting a vision.  So she sat there quietly, and after a moment, he looked at her. "Don't let him do it," he said to her.

"What?" she asked him, puzzled. "Don't let who do what?"

Chuck looked confused now. "I don't know."

Gail's forehead wrinkled. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

He was frustrated. "I mean, I don't know, Gail!" Chuck raised his voice. "All I know is that I'm scared, and I can't see anything that's of any use to us! Every time I try to look, I just see what looks like opaque glass, and I know that Lucifer is behind it! I just can't quite see what he looks like, or what he's doing!"

"OK, Chuck. Okay," Gail said, putting her hand on top of his. "I know you're trying to help. But stop yelling, or  Robbie'll be up all night." She gave him a thin smile.

But Chuck didn't smile back. "You've got to be careful, Gail," he told her. "I can't see him, but it's almost like I can feel him. Maybe it's because I used to be evil. I don't know. But I know that Lucifer really hates Cas, and he's planning something awful for the both of you. But I can't see it!" he repeated.

Oh, God, Gail thought. Why did it always seem to be Cas? And her, too. She knew she hadn't done herself or Cas any  favours when she had smart-mouthed Lucifer when they had gone to the cage. But who knew that he and Metatron were ever going to get out? The damned cage was supposed to be impenetrable. Now that she had her full memories back, Gail realized she would be able to recognize Lucifer, if he still looked the same as he had looked in the cage. But she was in the safest place possible; it was everyone else who was exposed. "Can you draw, Chuck?" she said suddenly.

He looked at her, puzzled. "Draw?"

"Yeah, draw." She gestured. "Sketch."

He shook his head. "No. Stick figures, that's about it."

Gail sighed. "Me too."

"I can draw." Felicia's voice, from behind them. She stepped into the library area. "Sorry, I overheard that last part," she told them. "Robbie finally went to sleep."

"If I describe someone to you, can you make a sketch of their face?" Gail asked her.

"Sure," Felicia replied. She gave them a faint smile. "My father used to tell me I was a very good artist."

"Good," Gail said. "Have a seat, Felicia. I'm going to describe a man, and I'd like you to draw him as best you can." She turned back to Chuck. "I'm going to take a picture of Felicia's drawing, and I'll use the cell phone to transmit it to all of you after I'm done."

"OK, Gail," Chuck said. But then he frowned. "I've got one question for you, though. How are you going to explain to Sam and Frank that you know what he looks like?"

Gail froze. She hadn't thought of that. But they all needed to know what Lucifer had looked like when she had seen him at the cage. He had had the same face at the Secret Garden, although  Aurielle had looked completely different from how she had looked before. Gail told Chuck this now. "We'll just tell them that's what he looked like when he confronted us in the Garden, Chuck. That's all they need to know," she said to him. "I doubt he'll look the same, but I want to make sure everybody can recognize him, just in case. He might just be arrogant enough to go walking around as himself."

Chuck nodded. Hey, it was worth a shot. "OK, I'd better go," he told her. "Sam's going to come looking for me in a minute. Send me a message on Angel Radio if you find out anything about our author." He gave her a kiss on the forehead, and then winked out.

Felicia looked at Gail. While she and Chuck had been talking, Felicia had been rooting around on the table, and she had found a pad of paper and a pencil. She had them in front of her now.

"Is there something going on, Gail?" Felicia asked her.

"What do you mean?" Gail asked.

"I mean, is there something going on that I should know about?" Felicia asked.

Gail frowned. Felicia was an Angel, but Gail hardly knew her, and Felicia was married to a traitor. Bobby had brought her and her son here to protect them, but Gail wasn't prepared to confide anything to Felicia about herself and her complicated life. "No, Felicia. There's nothing," Gail said. "I just want everybody to know what Lucifer looked like when Cas and I saw him at the Garden. That's all."

Felicia looked at her suspiciously. "Look, Gail, I know that none of you know me very well. But I have Robbie to think about. I'm the only parent he's got left.  So if he's in any danger here, I think I'm entitled to know."

"Don't worry, Felicia," Gail said. She let out a sigh and then continued, saying the words she would come to regret: "This is the safest place in the universe right now. It's got every protection there is."

Felicia continued to look at her for a moment. Then she let out a breath. "OK, Gail. Thanks for your reassurance. Now: What does he look like?"

Gail described Lucifer to her, and Felicia sketched quickly as Gail spoke. "That's a pretty good likeness," Gail told Felicia when she showed her the finished product. Then Gail snapped a photo of the sketch and sent it to all of their friends, with a note attached.

Then Gail smiled at Felicia. "Do you know how to play cards?" she said hopefully.

Lucifer took  Aurielle to a restaurant in Vancouver. They sat at an outdoor table beside three women, who were drinking wine and talking.

" So what have you been up to during the hiatus, Nicole?" Brenda asked.

Nicole had been taking a sip of her wine, and she nearly snorted it out of her nose. Zoey laughed.

"What's so funny?" Brenda demanded.

Nicole swallowed, coughing. "Sorry, Brenda," she said, wiping her eyes. She told Brenda about Dean having called it " hellatus ". Nicole had told Zoey, of course. She and Zoey were friends, and their recent intimate acquaintance with the Winchester brothers and their sharing of Cas and Gail's secret had brought them even closer together. But Brenda was more of an outsider, looking in. When she had called Nicole, wanting to have a drink, Nicole had been a little surprised. But she supposed that Brenda was at loose ends, too. They were all pretty much out of work at the moment. None of them had wanted to seek a new job, though. Their jobs were too good to give up.  So Nicole had agreed to meet Brenda for drinks, but she had called Zoey immediately after, inviting her, too. Nicole wasn't sure how she felt about Brenda, really, and she thought that Zoey's presence could act as a buffer.

"Have you talked to him much?" Brenda asked Nicole.

"No, just the one time," Nicole replied. "But he's been really busy."

"How about you, Zoey?" Brenda inquired. "Have you heard from Sam?"

Zoey shrugged. "No, but I didn't really expect to. I wouldn't mind seeing him again, but if I don't, I'm OK with that, too. We just had one of  those holiday kind of things ." She took a sip of her wine. "Between you girls and me, though, he's welcome in my bed any time," she added with a smile.

"Dean, too," Nicole said. She had a bit of a faraway look now, remembering how good Dean had made her feel. He was so strong, but he'd been so gentle, too. She'd been pleased that he'd taken the time to call her in the midst of all that he had to deal with. She certainly wasn't going to pine away for him, but Nicole really did hope she would see Dean again. And not just for the sex, either, though that had been amazing. She thought that they had connected on a bit of a higher level. But time would tell on that score.

Brenda was frowning. "Must be nice," she groused.

"Well, maybe if you didn't have a mad crush on an unattainable guy, you could have somebody in your bed, too," Zoey said to Brenda. Nicole kicked Zoey under the table, but Zoey just shrugged. "What?" she said. "Everybody knows Brenda's crazy about Cas. But he's crazy about Gail. You need to forget about it, Brenda. It's not  gonna happen."

Brenda sat back in her chair. "Oh, yeah? Well, if he's so crazy about her, where was she, all that time?"

"I heard she had some problem with her ex," Zoey said, lowering her voice. "It's all very hush-hush. You know Cas never says anything, but I overheard him and Richard talking once, and I think Gail's ex might have beaten her up, or something. Cas told Richard that she was in the States, recuperating."

Nicole frowned at Zoey. She didn't really think Zoey should be saying that to Brenda. It was Cas's business, and it was only set gossip, anyway. Besides, now that she and Zoey knew that Cas and Gail were actually Angels, Nicole was sure that that was just a cover story. That was one reason that gossip was harmful, in Nicole's opinion; people's reputations were often tarnished by unsubstantiated  rumours . Nicole preferred to speak only the truth, and she appreciated receiving it in return.

"Well, that just proves my point," Brenda said, although she hadn't really made one, that Nicole could see. "If they're supposedly so much in love, why didn't she recuperate here, where the health care doesn't cost you an arm and a leg? And Cas always looks so sad. I'm telling you, they're not the loving couple everyone seems to think they are. I think Gail's screwing around on him. And if that's the case, he's fair game." Brenda really wanted to believe that what she was saying was true. She was picturing Cas right now. She'd been dressing him on the show for a while, but what she'd really like to be doing was undressing him. He was very handsome, and he had a great body. And he did seem like a genuinely great guy. Brenda had herself convinced that Gail had treated him badly, but that he'd still held out hope that Gail would come back to him, because he was just that kind of guy. Brenda remembered that one time that she had gotten up the courage and asked him about why Gail wasn't on the set more often, or even living in Vancouver. Cas had looked at her sadly, and even though he hadn't answered her question, that look had told Brenda everything that she had needed to know. Well, if Gail couldn't appreciate Cas, Brenda certainly could. The problem was, Brenda didn't know where Cas was at the moment. He had disappeared when the show had been suspended due to the writers' strike. "Where is he?" Brenda asked the other girls. "Does anybody know?"

Nicole and Zoey exchanged glances. Somewhere in the States, trying to save the world from Lucifer. But they couldn't tell Brenda that, of course.

Aurielle's eyebrows had been raised this whole time, and Lucifer was amused. He leaned forward. "So, what do you say? Want to be Brenda for a while?"

Aurielle frowned. "I don't know. It doesn't sound like this girl has gotten anywhere with him, either," she said softly.

"She used to dress him every day," Lucifer said pointedly. "That means he likes her enough to allow her to put her hands on his body. And if she used to dress him, maybe she used to undress him, as well."

He grinned as he saw the wheels begin to spin in  Aurielle's head. Then he shrugged. "But, hey, I don't care. We can go back home right now and forget the whole thing, if you want."

Brenda stood up, telling the other girls she had to use the washroom.  Aurielle stood abruptly, looking at Lucifer. "Go," he told her. "Leave your vessel in the stall. I'll take it back with me so you can have it when you get back. Remember, you're Allison when you're back home, though. I still need you around."

Aurielle gave him a brief nod, but she was already eagerly following Brenda to the ladies' room. If Lucifer thought she was going to leave  Castiel and return to him, he was nuts. He had given  Aurielle Castiel's location; that was enough. He was all alone in a hotel suite in Miami, Lucifer had told her. Poor Gail had had to stay behind in the bunker, due to her injuries.  Aurielle had smiled broadly when Lucifer had told her that. Not only was the thought that Gail had been gravely injured enough to make  Aurielle's day, but now she knew that her rival would be unable to partake in the pleasures that  Aurielle now knew that  Castiel craved. If there was ever a time that he might succumb, it was now. Brenda had a pleasing enough face and figure, and  Castiel was already acquainted with her. That was good enough for  Aurielle .

So she incapacitated Brenda and took her over in the ladies' room, leaving her old vessel in the stall as instructed. And then  Aurielle went to Miami.

Dean and Ethan were sitting on their respective beds talking.

Ethan had been full of questions about life as a Hunter, and Dean had been telling him stories about the various kinds of monsters that he and Sam had encountered over the years, and how they had defeated them.

"What's it like being a cop?" Dean had then asked Ethan, turning the tables.

Ethan frowned. "I didn't get to be one for very long," he told Dean. "But, I really liked it. You feel like you're making a  difference in the world, one criminal at a time."

Dean understood. "You know, I could see myself as a cop," Dean said, taking a sip of his beer. "If Sammy and I hadn't had such a screwed-up life, maybe I could have been one."

Ethan smiled now. He liked Dean. The guy seemed to have a real grasp of right and wrong, and he was funny, and down-to-earth. He could see why Cas liked Dean and Sam so much, and why he was so willing to fight alongside them. "I'm sure you could have been. But you're helping people anyway, Dean," Ethan said. "Just in a different way." Then he sighed. "I wish I'd had more time here, though. Now I'll never see my son grow up. And I miss Karen like crazy."

Dean felt for the guy. It was a shame that he had been taken so young. But at least he had gone down a hero. "You know, if more Angels were like you and Cas, I might not mind the idea of becoming one so much," Dean quipped.

Ethan was pleased by Dean's compliment, but as usual, he deflected it away from himself. He wasn't very used to receiving them. "Yeah, I'm glad that Cas is OK now," Ethan said. "I was pretty worried about him there, for a while."

Dean looked closely at him. "Yeah? Why's that?"

"Come off it, Dean," Ethan said evenly. "I guess because I'm young, you think I was born yesterday. I know he wasn't himself there for a while, and I also know that you and Sam and Gail brought him back."

Dean frowned. "OK, Ethan. But Sam, Frank, and Jody don't know about that  anymore , so maybe don't say anything around them, OK?"

Now Ethan was getting it. That was why Dean had been acting so weird that day when they'd all been standing around the weapons table. But that gun that Sam had been looking at, the one that Dean hadn't wanted him to have, had had pentagram bullets in it.

Ethan's mouth fell open. "Cas was a Demon?"

Crap! Dean thought. This guy was too sharp for his own good. "I thought you already knew," he said to the young Angel.

"I suspected there was something wrong with him, but I didn't know it was as bad as that," Ethan replied, astonished. "What about Bobby? And Gail?"

"What about them?" Dean said uncomfortably. He wished this had never come up. Although it was a bit of a relief to talk about it, in a way.

"Do they know?" Ethan asked him.

Dean looked at him. "What do you think?"

Ethan's head was spinning. So, God knew, and so did Gail. And she was still with him. Wow. "So, God knew that Cas was a Demon? Why didn't he just smite him then, or something?"

That made Dean mad. "Because Cas is family. You don't give up on your family. What if your wife had a disease? Or your son? Would you just let them die?"

"No," Ethan said soberly. "I'd fight to save them, with everything I had."

"There you go," Dean said, nodding. "So that's what we did. Cas and Gail were both diseased, but they're OK now. Well, OK, she's hurting right now, but she'll be well again. Cas is the best friend I ever had, and Gail is like my sister.  So don't go shooting your mouth off about something you don't know anything about, OK? We have enough problems as it is."

Ethan was silent, thinking about what Dean had said. So, Gail had been sick, too. That must be why no one had seen them around Heaven after the incident at the cabin. And Sam and Dean had helped to save them. But there must have been a lot more to the story than that. Gail had been  cool to Cas at the board meetings, and it still seemed to Ethan that the two of them weren't quite right. Ethan didn't really know if that was really any of his business, though. As long as Cas and Gail were both back to normal now, that was all that counted. But he did hope that they'd be all right with each other in time. Ethan had never told them this before, but the couple had kind of been role models to him when they'd been persecuted at the tribunal. They had maintained their loving relationship throughout the ordeal, and Ethan had been impressed by their quiet dignity.

"Don't worry, Dean, I won't be indiscreet. I respect Cas and Gail, and what they stand for," Ethan said quietly. "All's well that ends well, right?"

"Right," Dean agreed. At least, he hoped so, anyway.

Linda was at the table, looking at the picture Gail had taken of Felicia's drawing, on the computer. " So this is what he looks like," she mused aloud. "It's about time someone got the bright idea to clue us in."

Jody was propped up in bed, switching channels with the remote. She thought Gail's idea would have been a great one, if Lucifer had been a human perp. But Jody agreed with Cas: she highly doubted that Lucifer would retain the same appearance, not when Cas and Gail had seen him now. He would want the element of surprise on his side. But she turned her head to look anyway, committing the image to memory, just in case.

She'd settled on a local TV station when she'd looked at the photo, and when the commercial was over, a tall man came on the screen. He called himself Reverend Gordon, and he said he had an important message for everyone. Jody shook her head. Oh, great. One of those guys.

She was about to change the channel when he said, "Fill up your water pitchers tonight when you go to bed. Because tomorrow, all the water that comes out of the taps is going to be blood."

That got Linda's attention too, and she walked over to have a look.

"It's another sign," the Reverend was saying. "And you heard it here first, folks. Actually, you're the only ones hearing it. I've been trying to get my manager to take me national, so I can warn all of my fellow Americans about what's going to happen. But no one will pick me up, because they say I'm too 'controversial'." He did air quotes with his fingers. "Well, maybe I am. What do you think, you guys? Am I too controversial?"

"NO!" the audience shouted, almost as one. "You're only telling us the truth!" one man added.

Gordon smiled. "You've got that right. And I only want to help. I'm here to tell you what you can do to survive the end of times. But it's not by getting down on your knees and praying. Although, ladies, if you're already down there, I know your men would appreciate a little personal attention, if you know what I mean." Then he smiled. "There I go again. That's why Mark says I can't go national,  cause I say stuff like that. But when we're faced with the end of the world, what's a little oral sex between friends? Or even strangers, for that matter? Don't we have bigger things to think about than listening to those tight-ass priests, telling us we shouldn't be having a good time? And we all know that no one knows more about a tight ass than a priest."

The studio audience laughed, and some of them clapped. The camera panned put over the spectators for a moment. Jody and Linda were amazed. For a local cable show, the audience was large. Reverend Gordon was saying outrageous things, but he was obviously popular here in Indianapolis. And the women had to admit he was entertaining, for one of those bogus TV preachers.

"I wonder if we should go to the dollar store and buy a few water pitchers," Linda quipped. Jody smirked, and she turned off the TV. "I need to get some sleep," she told Linda.

Linda nodded. "Yeah, I remember what that was like," she said. "Go ahead. I'll go back on the computer for a while."

Jody got under the covers and turned off the light, and Linda went back to the table.

"But, I digress," Lucifer continued. "I tend to do that a lot. Allison tells me that all the time. She's at a consultation right now, in fact. Thanks to all your generous donations, she might be able to have her first operation soon. And if she does, and if we go national, I've told her I'd like to see her on camera a bit more often. Maybe she can speak about things from the  women's point of view. I know I can be a chauvinist pig sometimes, and for that, I apologize, ladies. But she's helping me to be better in that regard. If she were here right now, I'm sure that she would remind me that there are a few things you men could do for a lady while you're down there on your knees, too."

The audience laughed again. They were mainly comprised of Demons, those who had deserted Crowley and gravitated towards Lucifer because of his charisma, and his promises. He had had a private audience with many of them, both here in Indianapolis and in the four other cities where they had been forming splinter groups. He'd asked them to stay where they were and wait for the signal, and then the killings could begin. Once he went national, he could convey his messages to them on the broadcast. But everything was in a holding pattern right now until that happened. Lucifer was losing patience with Mark. He was supposed to be the Mark of the Beast, wasn't he? But so far, he wasn't delivering; at least, not fast enough for his Master. He wouldn't have much longer to do so, Lucifer thought. He could easily be replaced.

"That is, if I can convince Allison to say such things out loud," Lucifer went on. "She's very shy, the poor thing. But if you looked like her, you would be, too. Keep sending in what you can for her, folks. Hopefully, we can get her that guy very soon."

Aurielle knocked on the door of the suite. Her hand was shaking, and she tried to steady it now.  Castiel knew Brenda, she reminded herself, and Brenda knew him well enough to have touched his body. That thought made her feel warm, and it was hot enough in Miami as it was. Lucky for her that it was, though. Her low-cut top and short shorts would not look out of place here. She'd made herself look as alluring as possible.

Castiel opened the door. He had sent Becky to the bedroom, telling her to stay there until he said it was okay to come out. He had his blade behind his back, but when he looked out the peephole, he stashed it in his pocket.

"Brenda?" he said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on holidays," she replied.

"How did you know I was here?" Cas asked her.

"I saw you check in," she said, improvising. "I just thought I'd stop by to say hi."

They stood there for a moment. "Can I come in, Cas?"  Aurielle prompted.

"Oh. Sure, Brenda," he said, moving aside to admit her. Cas was puzzled. Why was she here? He closed the door and turned around to ask her that. But she was just standing there, looking at him. And she was standing a little too close, like she did sometimes on the set.

"That's a nice shirt,"  Aurielle said, reaching out to touch his chest, pretending to feel the fabric.

Cas shrank back. Yes, this was Brenda, all right. He had been wondering about this unexplained visitor, but now he was convinced. She did things like this all the time. He knew that some human females were more forward than others, but  Castiel had always felt there was more to it than that. He let her put clothes on him because it was her job, but he had always taken great pains not to be in an undressed state when she arrived in the wardrobe trailer, and he had avoided her touch whenever possible.

"I'm here by myself, but when I saw you, I thought maybe we could have a drink together,"  Aurielle said to him. She moved even closer. "Or we could just talk, if you want. Whatever you'd like to do is OK with me," she continued. His back was against the door now, and the tips of her breasts were brushing his chest. "I could be a good companion, Cas,"  Aurielle said. She longed to call him by his full name, his real name. But she knew that she couldn't. Brenda wouldn't know who he really was.  Aurielle brushed her lips against his cheek. "I could be anything for you that you want," she said softly.

His paralysis broke. "Becky!" Cas yelled. "Come out here, please!"

Cas wanted to push Brenda away from him, but he was reluctant to be rough with her. He had vowed never to manhandle a female again. But he would have to do something, in a minute. This woman was taking way too many liberties now, and she was crazy if she thought he would ever consider what he thought that she was suggesting. He was glad that he didn't work on the show any more. There was no way that he could ever be near this woman again.

"What's going on, Cas?" Becky said. She had rushed out here once she'd heard the panic in his voice. Becky had been afraid it was  Lucifer, the way Cas had sounded. But thank God it wasn't; she'd forgotten to bring her blade with her. No wonder nobody wanted her to fight with them.

Aurielle wheeled around. She'd thought  Castiel had just been using a ploy; but here was Becky, emerging from the bedroom, of all places.  Aurielle looked at  Castiel , astonished. Was he fooling around on Gail? And with Becky, of all women?

Cas saw Brenda's look, and now he had something else to worry about. He didn't want Brenda to think what it appeared that she was thinking. "Becky's a friend of mine and Gail's," he said quickly.

"Oh? Where is Gail now, then?"  Aurielle said slyly.

Cas had no answer for that. He knew he must look as guilty as Brenda must think he was.

But Becky laughed. "It's not what you're thinking," she said. Becky may not be sharp in many other areas, but she was very astute when it came to relationships. She could see how close this woman was standing to  Castiel , and how uncomfortable he looked about it. It seemed like he was the one who needed rescuing.

Becky strode forward and grabbed  Castiel's arm, pulling him away from  Aurielle . "Gail will be back any minute," she said to  Aurielle . "She just went downstairs to get something to read. And, my boyfriend is down at the pool waiting for us. We were about to go join him as soon as Gail gets back." She smiled, nodding her head towards Cas. "That's if Kevin and me can get them out of their room long enough. You'd think they were on their honeymoon, or something."

Aurielle was aghast. Lucifer had lied to her!  Castiel wasn't here alone; he was here with Gail, and her old friend Becky, and Kevin. And  Castiel and Gail were spending a lot of time here in their room?  So Lucifer was obviously lying about the extent of Gail's injuries, too. If she was well enough to walk down to the lobby and to the pool by herself, she couldn't be that hurt. If they even made it to the pool, that was.  Aurielle could picture Becky leaving, and Gail coming in here wearing a bikini, with one of those flimsy cover-ups on top of it. She would come waltzing in here, and  Castiel would go to her, lifting the cover-up over her head. Then he would kiss Gail, using his tongue. She would be laughing, telling him they'd promised their friends they would meet them at the pool. But she would kiss him back, unbuttoning his shirt, and he would unhook the top of her bathing suit. He would lick her breasts as she held his head, and then he would scoop her up and carry her into the bedroom. Then they would both be naked, and  Castiel would be making love to her, and Gail would be saying his name over and over, telling him she loved him.  Castiel would be licking Gail all over her body then, telling her he loved her more than anything. They would cuddle and laugh together, and Gail would say she hoped their friends weren't too disappointed that they weren't going to show up.  Castiel would tell her that he didn't care, that his job here was not yet done. Then he would move down Gail's body and use his tongue on her, and she would cry out again. Then Gail would climb on top of him and ease him inside of her. It must feel amazing, because they both looked so happy.  Castiel was caressing Gail's body, and she leaned down to kiss him.  Aurielle could see them using their tongues with each other, and she burned with jealousy. Then Gail would climb off of him and take him in her mouth, making him moan.  Aurielle needed to see his face up close when that happened. She longed to make him happy like that. Now he was crying out, but it was Gail's name he was shouting. Gail was smiling as  Castiel's hand was caressing her, and his fingers were stroking her now, making her cry out, too. Then they were cuddling again, and then Gail was licking his chest.  Castiel lifted her body up and placed her on his mouth, and Gail was laughing now, because his tongue was making her feel so good that it was beyond words. On and on it went, in every way and in every conceivable position, until the bedsheets were on the floor, and the couple was exhausted and smiling.

Aurielle turned and ran from the room, winking herself back to Indianapolis.

Castiel looked at Becky, stricken. He felt shell-shocked. What had just happened here?

"Who was that?" Becky asked him. She had moved to the door as soon as  Aurielle had turned away, and now Becky closed it, double-locking it.

"A woman from the show I worked on," he said.

Becky turned back to look at him, tilting her head. "A woman? You mean, a human woman?"

"Yes, of course," he said, sinking down onto the couch. Becky was looking at him strangely. She couldn't possibly think...

Becky gave him a short laugh. "I hate to tell you this, Cas, but that was no human woman. After she left, she disappeared."

His head jerked up to look at her. "She what?"

"Disappeared," Becky replied. "Winked out."

Cas rose quickly, going for his blade out of pure reflex. But then he realized that was pointless. She was gone.  Aurielle ! He should have known. Lucifer had obviously shielded her, in some way. Cas hadn't been able to sense a thing. But even though she had looked like Brenda, he still should have been suspicious. Brenda had never been quite that bold, and she had never propositioned him in that manner. If she had, he would have reported it to Richard right away. And, now that he thought about it, he could have sworn that he'd seen a momentary look of hatred on her face before she had turned and rushed out of the room. Of course: Becky had said that Gail was here. He had let his guard down for just a moment, and he had been stupid.

"I'm sorry, Becky," Cas said to her. "Thank you for helping me. That was a very smart thing you did."

Becky was smiling now. She knew she wasn't always the sharpest person around, but she had been smart enough to get rid of that woman, hadn't she? And she was about to be brilliant. "That woman was  Aurielle , wasn't she?" Becky asked  Castiel .

Cas sat down again. His knees were shaking. Imagine if Gail had been here, coming out from the bedroom, seeing  Aurielle as Brenda standing so close to him, saying what she had been saying. Worse still, imagine if Gail had been here in her injured, vulnerable state, and  Aurielle had had a weapon. He was going to have to get over his reluctance to be forceful with a female, and he would have to get over it quickly. There was a big difference between how he had behaved when he was a Demon and who he was now, and he had to get past that somehow.  Aurielle was a threat to Gail, and Cas could not forget that. He had to protect her from all of their enemies, not just the male ones.

"Yes, Becky. I'm afraid she was. And you were the one who took care of the situation. I'm proud of you, Becky," he told her.

Becky was positively glowing now. "Can you do me a  favour , Cas? Can you tell Bobby about this? I think he thinks I can't do anything," she told him.

Cas smiled. Becky hadn't actually done anything, per se. But she had had the presence of mind to say what she'd said to  Aurielle , when he himself had frozen up. Perhaps all that Becky required was a little self-confidence. "I will certainly tell Bobby,"  Castiel told her.

"Thanks, Cas," Becky said. "Oh, and, Cas?"

"Yes?" he asked her.

"Next time I won't forget my weapon," Becky said.

Cas had the urge to laugh, but he didn't think that Becky would understand.  So he just shook his head as she looked at him sheepishly. Becky. She was truly unique.

Aurielle wished she could slap that stupid grin right off of Lucifer's face. The instant she had appeared back in his office, he had been standing there, grinning. He was standing over the vessel she had vacated in order to enter Brenda, looking as if he had been expecting her to arrive at any moment. And he probably had, the bastard.

"You told me that he was alone!" she fumed, telling him about the encounter.

"Yes, and I also told you that Gail wasn't going to be there, and that part was the truth," Lucifer said, shrugging. "Becky suckered you,  Aurielle . I told you Gail was in the bunker, and she is."

Aurielle's mouth dropped open. Becky had lied to her? That sneaky little...

Lucifer laughed. "I've got to give young Becky a lot of credit. That was some pretty quick thinking on her part. And for her, that's really saying something." Then he stopped laughing and said, "You clearly don't want it enough,  Aurielle . I thought you had more potential."

Her forehead wrinkled. "What do you mean?"

Lucifer shook his head slowly. "Why didn't you just kill Becky?"

She was shocked. "Why would I do that?"  Aurielle was annoyed with Becky for having lied to her, but they had been friends in Heaven, and that thought had never occurred to her. As badly as  Aurielle wanted to be with  Castiel , and she did,  Aurielle didn't know if she was prepared to do something like that. She would happily have killed Gail if she had actually been there, but Becky? Was  Aurielle really that evil?

"You're going to have to decide what your priorities are, my dear," Lucifer said. Then he scowled. He'd assumed she would have picked Becky off, as easily as you would swat a fly. Lucifer's grandmother, if he'd had one, could have killed Becky. He'd been testing  Aurielle , and she had disappointed him. Of course,  Castiel would have killed  Aurielle if she had done that, so it was probably for the best all the way around. At least, for the time being, anyway. She could continue to serve him, and he could milk some more donations out of her ugly, scarred face in the meantime. "Get back to work, Allison," Lucifer said, leaving  Aurielle to retake her old vessel. "And don't forget to take the trash out when you're done." He handed her a  knife and left the room.

Aurielle was puzzled, but then she understood. Once she vacated Brenda's body,  Aurielle was expected to kill Brenda, and dump the body. Lucifer had expressed his disappointment with her, and now she was being tested.  Aurielle thought for a moment. Brenda was only a human, and  Aurielle didn't know her. Also, from what  Aurielle had overheard at the restaurant, this Brenda woman also had feelings for  Castiel .  Aurielle looked at the knife in her hand, and then she started to laugh. As if a human woman would ever be able to turn  Castiel's head. She hated to admit it, but Lucifer was right. If  Aurielle truly wanted  Castiel for her own, she would have to try harder. Removing her rivals would be a good start, but Gail was cocooned in the safety of the bunker for the moment, and so  Aurielle would have to worry about her later. But Brenda would be good practice, in the meantime.

Aurielle re-entered her former vessel, and when Brenda came to, she was in a place she didn't recognize. A woman with horrible scars on her face was leaning over Brenda, and she had a knife in her hand. " Castiel loves me, Gail. Me,"  Aurielle said, and then she stabbed Brenda in the chest. That felt so good that she did it again, then again, and again. When  Aurielle was done, poor Brenda had been stabbed countless times, and she had died without ever knowing why.

Felicia had gone to Robbie's room to watch over him for a while, just in case he woke up suddenly and was frightened to be in a strange place. She had told Gail that she'd be back out in about an hour, to give her the last pill of the day.

Gail could hardly wait for the hour to be up. She was in a lot of pain again, and she wasn't even sure why. She had done nothing but sit at the table in her wheelchair since Chuck had left the bunker, but now the pain had become almost too much for her to bear. When Gail had come here from the hospital, she had naively thought that her wounds would hurt for a couple of days, and then she would start to get better. But things seemed to be getting worse. It was just as well that neither Bobby nor Cas were here; she was about two deep breaths away from asking for a new vessel after all, if this was the way that she was going to feel all the time.

To try to take her mind off the pain, Gail had resumed her reading of First  Edition's book series. Now she was up to the tribunal, and when Gail reached the description of Cas's execution, she had broken down and cried. That had been the turning point for everything that had gone wrong in their lives afterwards. And the author had described the scene in excruciating and heart-wrenching detail, even down to Jason's having cruelly torn up her original Las Vegas photo, and Cas's loving final words to her.

Wait. Gail wiped her eyes with her hands and forced herself to re-read the last few pages. This was the fifth book she was reading now, and Gail had begun to notice a difference between certain sections of the books and certain other sections. So far, it had been fairly subtle. But now she realized the difference between this and other sections: the execution scene, for lack of a better term, was so detailed that it could only have been written by someone who had been in the room at the time.

Someone who was in the room at the time! Gail's mind raced. Who else had been there? Jason had been there, of course, but he was in Purgatory last Gail knew, and probably having the time of his life, torturing and killing other beings. Hopefully, he had received a little torture in return, or a lot, she thought vindictively. She had almost forgotten how cruel he had been to the both of them during that whole ordeal.

Xavier,  Lanister , and Alexander were all in Hell now, courtesy of Demon Cas, the monster they had helped to create. But none of them could have written these books. Crowley didn't exactly promote the creative arts in his Kingdom. Now that Gail was an Angel again, she supposed she should feel bad about what Demon Cas had done to them, and what was doubtless being done to them now. But she found she couldn't muster up too much sympathy. They had killed Cas, and they had almost killed her relationship with him in the process.

Ignatius had been there too, but Felicia's father was dead now. They had attended his funeral. And, he had died a human. Ethan had led Cas into the room at the execution, and Todd and a few other young guards had been there too. But how could any of them possibly know what had gone on in her and Cas's lives before the tribunal? Daniel and Gregory had also been on the board that had rendered the verdict, but they had elected not to attend the execution, so that would rule them out, as well. They had not had the stomach to witness Cas's execution, and they had subsequently repented of their role in sending Cas to his death.

Gail sat back in her chair. She wished she hadn't read the stupid thing now. All she could think about was Jason holding her by the hair, forcing her to watch Cas being stabbed to death. It was a good thing she didn't sleep, or she'd be having nightmares all night. And the final insult had been when she'd realized who Cas's executioner was.

She sat bolt upright. A searing pain went through her stomach at the sudden motion, but Gail ignored it. How could she have missed it? Cas's executioner had been Metatron.


	3. Forgive and Forget

Mark rushed into Lucifer's office waving the contract. "I got it!" he exclaimed. Then he stopped short. Lucifer was sitting in an armchair across from the couch, talking to a small group of Demons. He had been holding court with his latest supplicants, defectors from Hell. It still disconcerted Mark to see so many Demons together in one place, staring at him with their flat black eyes. Once an Angel, always an Angel, he guessed, grinning to himself. But if it hadn't been for the Demons, the studio audience would be half-empty most of the time. Mark had paid through the nose to make it happen, but his contact had come through for him, directing the Demons he ran across to the studio and greasing their palms with whatever they had asked for. They would react enthusiastically to Lucifer's "sermons", clapping and cheering, and prompting humans to come into the studio, to see what all the fuss was about. That was how things had started out, anyway. Now, the studio audience ran about half and half, and more humans were coming in all the time. But Lucifer was still cultivating the Demons. He took great pleasure in stealing souls from Crowley. And they would be very useful when it came time to shift to the next phase of Armageddon. Demons were filthy, disgusting creatures who only cared about themselves and their own pleasures, whatever those might be. In other words, his kind of people.

Lucifer stood, regarding Mark coolly. But then he saw the paper in Mark's hand, and his pulse quickened. "Good visit," he said to the Demons. "Now, get out."

They grinned. That was why they liked The Rev so much. And his last name was Devlin, which was close to "Devil", wasn't it? Those Demons who weren't sharp enough to figure out who The Rev really was still thought he was a great guy. His door was always open, he always had a joke or two  ready for them, and he was always willing to help hook them up with whatever Earthly pleasures they were seeking at the time. And he'd promised there would be lots of work for them in the near future. The supposed King of Hell had gone soft,  favouring humans and even Angels over Hell and the dark side, and Lucifer's time had now come. He promised the Demons the 3 F's; Fun, Freedom, and. ..well , they could figure out what the third one was for themselves. If the occasional rape or two were to happen along with the murder, well, who was Lucifer to judge?

The Demons left, and Lucifer turned to Mark. "Is that my contract?" he asked.

"Yes, my Lord," Mark replied, handing it to him. "It took a lot of persistence, and a boatload of money, but you're finally going national. Coast to coast."

"It's about time," Lucifer said. He sat down behind his desk and briefly scanned the document, then grabbed a pen and signed it with a flourish. He looked up at Mark.

"Thanks," Lucifer said tonelessly. He supposed that he was expected to say that, even though it had been Mark's job to accomplish, and he'd taken his sweet time doing it, too. But Mark had come through in the end, and now Lucifer had another task for him.

"I want you to call Felicia," Lucifer told his assistant.

Mark frowned. "Why?"

Lucifer's eyes flashed briefly, and Mark took a step back. He knew his Master didn't like to be questioned. But Mark couldn't help it. He had just abandoned his wife, and she had now retreated into the loving bosom of her formerly estranged Angel family. And now Lucifer wanted Mark to call her?

But Lucifer let it slide. He had his TV show going national now, and he was feeling magnanimous. He was already thinking about his first big splash on the national scene, and what the next escalation of Armageddon should be.

"Because I want to know what everyone's doing, and I want to know what Bobby's plans are," Lucifer responded.

"I thought you knew all that," Mark said, surprised.

"I do, but..." Now Lucifer was frowning. He didn't want to admit to Mark that there were some things he was unable to see. Apparently, the God squad had some secrets, still. And Lucifer was loath to try to take on Bobby right now. Later, he'd be much stronger, and he would have an army to back him up. But he was just starting out right now, and Lucifer had no desire for a confrontation with The Lord.  So he would need some assistance to track the movements of Bobby and his group. When the time came, which should happily be very soon, Lucifer wanted Bobby as far away from the bunker as possible.

"Make the call," Lucifer snapped, and he waved his hand, dismissing Mark.

It was the middle of the night now, and as the humans slept, the otherworldly beings kept vigil, lost in their own thoughts.

Paul sat with the others in the Demon den, smoking, drinking and gambling along with his cohorts, waiting for Crowley's instructions. He had to admit that Lucifer's tactics were proving to be very effective, both on his own kind and also on certain types of humans.

If Crowley wasn't worried already, he should be. Many Demons were turning their backs on Hell now, and on their own King, to follow Lucifer and join his New World Order.

Crowley had been concerned enough to recruit Paul. A couple of days ago, Paul had been summoned to the King's office and questioned closely by Crowley. What did Paul think about the way Hell was being run? What were the areas in which he thought there could be improvement? And what did he think of Lucifer, and the fact that he seemed to want to take over as Supreme Leader?

Paul had been a Demon for a while now, and he was known to have very strong opinions on a number of subjects. There were Demons of all races and  colours , of course. Paul had lived and died a proud black man, and he remained one, now. He had lived bitter and had died the same way, and he was still bitter now.  So he didn't care what Crowley did to him; the King couldn't do anything to Paul in Hell that hadn't already been done to him on Earth. Beatings, whippings, rape, even. You name it. Paul had been the white man's bitch all his life, and Crowley was just another white guy in a suit.

So Paul had leaned back in his chair and said, "Hell's behind the times. Our methods are medieval. And we're being reactive, not proactive. There are a lot of guys here who are fed up. They want to do stuff, go out there and wreak some havoc, and you have them cooped up here doing menial, pointless jobs. I hear a lot of them are deserting you, because Lucifer is promising to give them what they want."

Crowley scowled. Well, he had asked, hadn't he? "Is that right?" he said evenly. "Well then, what do YOU think we should be doing?"

Paul looked at Crowley suspiciously. Why was the King asking HIM that? From what he'd heard, Crowley never asked for anyone's opinion on anything. His way was the right way, or at least, it was the way things were going to be. And if anyone didn't like it, they could look forward to a good, long torture. But suddenly, here was Paul, being asked for his ideas on improvements. Well, if he was going to be dragged out of here and tortured, Paul was going to have his say, first.

"I told you; your methods are medieval," Paul said defiantly. "Every Angel in Heaven has a computer now, even the quill-pen users. We should all have them, too. You're missing out on some golden opportunities here. Not only would we be more productive, but we'd be keeping up with the times. But even keeping up isn't good enough. We should be making the events, not following them. Guys are defecting, and a few women too, because they want to be out there, murdering and tormenting humans. They want their Earthly pleasures, too, and Lucifer is promising all that, and more."

"Politicians make empty promises all the time," Crowley said irritably. "And just because something's new, that doesn't mean it's better."

Paul shrugged. "Be that as it may, the perception is that Lucifer is the new Malcolm X, and you're 'the man'."

Crowley was puzzled. He didn't really understand what Paul was referring to. Who was this Malcolm X individual? And, of course Crowley was a man.

Paul smiled sardonically. Naturally, Crowley wouldn't know what he was talking about. Crowley was an old-world guy. Not exactly the epitome of enlightenment and inclusion. "OK. Let me put it in terms you might understand," Paul said. "Lucifer's the fun-loving uncle who wants to take all the kiddies to the amusement park and let them ride the rides until they throw up, even die. And you're the mom who makes them stay at home to do all the chores, and then messes up the house so that she can make them do it all over again." He smiled then, to try to mitigate the harshness of his words. "And that might be OK, if they were Angels. Historically, Angels have always been like sheep, blindly following orders. But your Brother  Castiel decided that wasn't good enough for him, and he rebelled. And now that Bobby is God, and  Castiel's woman is the head of the board, changes are coming to Heaven, and soon they'll be way further ahead of us, in everything."

Crowley's frown deepened. "I realize I asked for your opinion, but I might not be above torturing you if you continue to praise Heaven. I thought you were here because you despised your father, and everything he stood for."

Paul smiled again. "That's exactly right. I do hate my father. And I hate Heaven, too. As the son of an Archangel, I should have been welcomed there with open arms. But my father alienated everyone with his arrogant attitude, and I was painted with the same brush in everyone's eyes. It was bad enough being black in ancient times without my father making it even harder for us by being the way he was. I'm glad  Castiel killed him."

Crowley sighed. The only thing that would make his choice of Raphael's son for the assignment he had in mind better would be if Paul hated  Castiel for killing his father, as any normal son would. But Paul was not a normal individual. He was the son of an Archangel who had turned his back so sharply on his heritage that he was now a Demon, who was now an outspoken proponent of Hell. Paul's politics were complicated, but Crowley figured he'd be the ideal candidate for the role that the King had in mind.

"And how do  uou feel about Lucifer?" Crowley asked Paul.

"All sizzle, no steak," Paul replied derisively. "I said he makes promises; I didn't say he was going to deliver on them."

Crowley lifted an eyebrow. "Does that mean you aren't a fan?" he said sarcastically.

"No, I'm not," Paul said in a serious tone. "My father knew him, you know. He's just a jacked-up former Angel with delusions of grandeur. Smoke and mirrors. He's got to go, before he brings us all down with him."

Crowley regarded Paul for a moment. If that was how he really felt, he would be ideal for the job. And Crowley could only benefit from what he was about to propose.  So he leaned forward and said, "Have you ever fancied yourself as James Bond?"

Gail had read all night until the morning, and she'd nearly reached the end of the last posted book. It was like watching TV with your hand in a bowl of potato chips; before you knew it, the show was over, and you'd eaten all the chips. Then you were sorry the show was over, and you wanted more chips, even though you knew you shouldn't have any more. Chips were bad for you, and you should really get up off the couch and exercise, or something.

The narrative had ended at the point where she and Cas were about to take the cure. Since it was her life, she knew what happened next, of course. But she was dying to read about it, anyway. It was strangely compelling to read about your own life  experiences written from another person's perspective. She forced herself to look at it from a spectator's point of view. The  Castiel character had started out heroic, and larger than life. But then the reader found out that there was a lot more complexity to him. He had done some very questionable things in the past, and that was if you wanted to be generous in your terminology. Quite honestly, some of the things he had done had been despicable, and even though the author tried to explain  Castiel's motivations as he or she saw them, they were sometimes confusing. But then you saw his human side in Las Vegas. He had messed up that first night by getting drunk with the guys, but he had made up for it the next day by being charming and romantic and in the end, he had finally gotten his girl. But then the reader learned that there were a lot of Angels who hated and ostracized  Castiel in Heaven and were actually out to get him, and then he became a sympathetic character. Then the narrative became a story of two ill-fated lovers, kept apart by jealousy and ambition. Then God got involved, and the unlikeliest of heroes saved the day, after God had given Crowley a firm nudge in that direction. And the alternate universe section had been both amusing and alarming to Gail. An intriguing premise, to be sure.  Was that how things would have turned out? She could have gone on to college and became a famous author. It was funny to think that she still would have met and been friends with Sam and Dean. And now that she had seen the darker side of him, Gail could totally imagine Alternate Universe Cas. The sexy bad boy who had charmed and seduced the shy, bookish girl, convinced her to travel the world with him, then abandoned her when she proved to be too ordinary for him. The author of the series had pretty much nailed that one. And it was strange to think of some of the other principals in the story that was their lives as different personae: Crowley, an all-around good guy, helping little old ladies and hanging out with his mates at the pub. Chuck, a respected author and kind mentor to a younger-generation Gail. Metatron, a beloved priest. And, arguably, the most bizarre of all,  Aurielle , a gay pop singer. But some had retained their core personalities: Xavier, a prudish young man with ambitions to rule the world and  mould society into what he thought was right. And Jason, an outcast who had visions of torture and murder.

Wow. Just imagine that different reality for a minute. But God couldn't have let things stand the way they had turned out in that alternate world, so He did the reset and put everything back to the way it had been. Then came the aftermath of the tribunal, and then Cas had been rewarded for his suffering with the chance to be God for the day, almost like winning a prize on a game show, or something. And of course, he had given gifts to all of his friends, and he had treated his girl like a queen. True, he had also murdered  Lanister , but even that one dark spot in an otherwise bright, shiny day for them could be excused, because  Lanister had been threatening the heroine of the story. And they were all together as a family again and happy, after Cas had brought Frank back from Hell for Gail, and they had even teamed up with Crowley to stop Metatron. But then came the dramatic twist of their kidnap and ordeal at the cabin, and then the bottom had completely fallen out.

Castiel had become an even more complex individual then. What had been done to him wasn't his fault, but his history of bad decision-making reared its ugly head again when he had decided to keep a little bit of Demon inside of him. Why, why after all those years of despising Demons, had he suddenly decided that it would be acceptable for him to be part Demon himself? He'd rationalized the decision to himself a number of different ways. He'd wanted the ultimate power of revival, a power that he'd once had, and felt he'd earned the right to have back again. He suffered from a lack of self-confidence, and he'd thought that quality would make him more of a force to be reckoned with, both in Heaven and in his personal relationships. And he'd wanted the freedom of sexual expression with Gail. He knew he'd been timid and awkward with her in Las Vegas, and he wanted her to think of him as someone who could take charge in that  department and be all that she needed him to be. There had been a number of reasons, or excuses, that he had employed while making his decision. But he had also abdicated some of the responsibility for that momentous decision by telling Gail that he wanted her to decide with him.

And this was when the story got really confusing. Who was this woman, anyway? Of all of the characters in this whole saga, Gail was perhaps the hardest to understand. She had been a victim for most of her life, in one way or another. The circumstances of her upbringing had been beyond her control, and so was her life on the road with her brother. Even when she had met Sam and Dean and Cas, and her life had begun to change, Gail had still looked to these men to take the lead, because that was what she'd been used to, all her life. Even Crowley had led her by the nose for a while, when she'd been taken by him and dosed with his blood.  Castiel had been a mysterious and dashing figure to her, and fortunately, his innate goodness and heroism had proved irresistible to her in the end.

This was getting really weird for Gail. She was herself, reading about herself as a character, trying to pretend as if she wasn't herself, so that she could understand herself. Maybe this author had done her a big  favour . This was like free therapy, in a way. She saw herself becoming a little bit stronger throughout the series, a little more empowered, as the term went, and that was good. But when the chips were down, she had still been a victim more often than not, and she had still fallen into the trap of waiting for the men to make the  decisions and be her rescuers.

And what about herself and Cas? Theirs had started out as an old-fashioned, romantic tale, albeit in a modern and supernatural-type context. He was the hero, and she was his damsel. Then there had been a bit of conflict, but it had been resolved. Then  Castiel had told her about his past, and she had been shaken out of her fantasy world. Her life was not a novel, and her dream man wasn't perfect. But she had gotten her wake-up call, and Gail had decided that she could love and accept him anyway. Then there had been Vegas, and then they were back to the stuff of novels again, with  humour and human feelings added. And that was even better, as far as Gail was concerned. Cas wasn't too pure to be believed, after all. He'd gotten drunk, and he'd gambled. But he had also punched out that poker player on her behalf, and he had dressed up in a suit and taken her to a fancy restaurant. He was good-looking, he was endearing, and he treated her like a princess. How could she not have loved him? When they had gone to bed together there, neither of them had really known what they were doing, but they had gotten there, in the end. Their relationship had seemed perfect to her.

But life wasn't perfect, and neither were people. Cas had a temper, and Gail had been mystified by Heaven's politics and their apparent scorn for Cas there. But they were the classic star-crossed couple, weren't they? The hero and heroine who had to overcome obstacle after obstacle in order to be together. They'd even run away together, making their story even more romantic, but then they had done the  honourable thing by surrendering themselves to Jason, to save their friends. The tribunal had served to highlight their flaws and their mistakes, but those could be excused, or at the very least, understood, because the readers knew the characters by now and knew that they were innately good people.

Then Cas had briefly become a martyr, and then he had been God. Could Sainthood be far behind? But Gail hadn't wanted a Saint, she'd wanted a man. Oh, but not just any man. She'd wanted a hero, a protector, a strong man who always did the right thing and had the utmost respect and admiration of others. To use the  cliche , a man who all the other men wanted to be, and all the other women wanted to be with. A kind and soft-hearted man, who would do anything for her. Oh, and a guy who was sexy and skilled in the bedroom, with just the right combination of aggressiveness and gentleness.

So he had tried to be all those things for her, even as the poison had been flowing through his veins and corrupting his thoughts. But Cas had overcompensated, becoming so aggressive in the bedroom that he had left her bruised and bleeding. And he had loved her so much that he had been prepared to kill any male who'd even cast his eyes on her.

Now Gail was a victim again, and Cas was her oppressor, a beast who was wallowing in the dark realm of sex and violence, and the lines were becoming extremely blurred. Gail had had the bad blood in her too, so she had an excuse for having let Cas do all those things to her, and to have enjoyed some of them. And she'd also had the blood bond with him, which provided a perfectly legitimate and understandable reason why she'd kept going back to Cas and kept letting him take her to bed, even though she'd known that Demon Cas could hurt her at any time.

But in a way, it was maddening. Suddenly, they had gone from being a classically romantic couple to the world's most dysfunctional one. He was an offender, and she was an apologist and an enabler. Cas was committing all kinds of heinous acts, and she was letting him, or at the very least, looking the other way. She'd tried to maintain her moral  centre throughout, but then they'd switched roles, and Cas had begun to fight the badness in him, while Gail had surrendered to hers. Then Cas became her hero again, staying away from Gail for her own safety's sake.

She'd persisted in her pursuit of the cure, and she had prevailed in the end. But all of the things that had happened between them had been too much for Gail to overcome, and even though she thought she'd forgiven him, she hadn't. It was almost a blessing when he had told her that he had forced his blood into her that first time, because he had given her the excuse she'd still felt like she needed to tell him she was leaving him.

None of these last thoughts were in the books she'd been reading, but there were supposedly more to come in the series, so Gail assumed the story would be fairly representative of everything that had happened. These stories were almost an exact reproduction of her life, after all. But the author of the books still remained a mystery. No one except for her and Cas would be privy to all of the stuff that had happened between them, good or bad. Only God, maybe. Was that what He was doing with Himself, now that He was retired? she thought with wry amusement. If so, why didn't He just publish the rest of the series now, and save her the trouble of living it? Then she would already know what was going to happen in the future, and how she should conduct herself.

It all kept coming back to Metatron, in Gail's mind. She had no proof, of course, but she couldn't think of anything that would specifically rule him out as being the author. But he also hadn't been around for many of these events, either. He had been in Heaven's prison, then in Hell, then in the cage with Lucifer, with only brief side trips to Earth in-between. So, how could he know so much? Did he have Crowley's "eye"? Crowley was able to see them whenever they weren't in a place like the bunker, which was protected from his vision. Or was it because Metatron had been God's Scribe? Maybe if he could channel God's Word, he could channel  Castiel and Gail, too. Weren't they all Originals, after all?

OK, that was a creepy thought. Now she didn't want it to be Metatron. He was a rotten little individual who had used Cas and made him into a pariah in Heaven, and he had viciously stabbed Gail to death in Las Vegas just to try to get her Grace. It was bad enough that some of her trusted friends knew far more details about her and Cas than she was comfortable with, let alone having somebody like him know them. She had told Chuck that she was going to e-mail the author, but she had procrastinated in  favour of continuing to read, and now she had  wiled the rest of the night away reminiscing and self-analyzing. But if there was a possibility that the author could be Metatron, she'd better find out. None of them knew if he and Lucifer were still together here on Earth, but even if they weren't, Metatron needed to be apprehended, too.

So she composed a review and e-mailed it to the address in the bio, making sure that what she said was complimentary, for the most part. But she also wanted to needle him a bit, to make sure he responded. Metatron thought he was the smartest guy in the universe, and he also thought that every other being could be educated by that vast knowledge of his.

So she told the author, honestly, that she'd been riveted by the stories; but she also told him/her that she thought that certain aspects of  Castiel's and Gail's characters were a little hard to believe. Were they really that screwed up as people, or Angels, or whatever? Wasn't he just laying it on thick, for dramatic effect? Could that Demon thing even have happened at all to a wonderful guy like  Castiel ? She had to hand it to him, it was one hell of a plot twist. But, still...

There. She clicked Send, then sat back in her chair, still brooding about herself and Cas.

Cas was brooding about himself and Gail, too. He was miles away from her, and they had not even spoken since Bobby had sent everyone away from the bunker. Gail had seemed aloof then, and she had told him prior to that that she was still angry with him. But, really, what had he expected?  Of course she would still be angry with him. He had known that she would be, when he had planned to come clean and tell her about what had really happened between them, and the fact that he had encouraged God to erase her memories of it. But he hadn't come clean, had he? He had put off telling her himself, basking in the glow of her love and admiration for him as the leader of their group of Angels. Using this crisis with Lucifer as an excuse to stay silent. But she had somehow regained her memories on her own, and she claimed she had forgiven him. Again. But she had also admonished him for not being honest with her and for having manipulated her, and he hadn't been able to protest, because he had done both of those things. And then she had encouraged him to leave the bunker.

So where did they go from here? He'd told her he would give anything to take it all back, and he truly would. But Cas knew that wasn't the way things worked, and he couldn't keep hoping that his Father would continue to bail him out. He had to step up and take responsibility for himself, and for his actions.

It was driving him crazy. He needed to communicate with her.

"You miss her, don't you?" Becky said, smiling. She recognized that look.

"Is it that obvious?" Cas asked her.

Now Becky was grinning. "Yeah, Cas. Why don't you pop over and see her for a few minutes? I won't tell Bobby if you don't."

Cas smiled at that. Bobby was God; he would know, if he chose to know. But he hadn't specifically told Cas he couldn't check up on her, had he? And she'd been seriously injured, after all. What kind of an Angel would he be if he didn't make sure she was all right?

But he couldn't leave Becky alone, either. "If I do, you need to come with me," Cas told her. Becky frowned a little, but she understood. Just because she had taken care of that little situation with that woman who had turned out to be  Aurielle , that didn't mean she would be capable of handling a more serious threat on her own.

"'If'?" she said to Cas, and he laughed, taking her hand and winking them to the bunker.

She was sitting at the table in the library area, looking down at the screen of the computer in front of her and frowning. She looked up when Cas and Becky popped in, and Cas saw immediately that she had been crying.

Gail wiped her eyes with her hands as Cas rushed over to her. "Are  you all right?" he asked her, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Do you need a pill, or anything?" Becky asked Gail, coming up behind Cas. Poor Gail. Becky couldn't even imagine what it would feel like to be half-eaten by a big, wild animal. Becky would have died from the fear alone, never mind the pain.

"I need a pill, all right," Gail said. "I need a magic pill."

Cas had turned Gail's wheelchair around, and he was studying her face. He knew that face very well by now, and he could read just about every expression on it. This wasn't physical pain.

"Becky, could you leave us alone for a bit?" he asked the young Angel.

"Felicia's in the kitchen getting breakfast for Robbie," Gail told Becky. "You could go down there and visit with them, if you want."

"Sure," Becky said, and she started to walk down the hallway. Cas and Gail hadn't seen each other in a couple of days. They would probably have to spend about an hour kissing, just to make up for it. That was the way they had always been, ever since she'd met them.

Cas drew up a chair and sat in front of Gail, holding both of her hands in his. "DO you need a pill?" he asked her. Hopefully, Felicia had not been so busy taking care of her son that she had forgotten to take care of Gail, or he would have to have a talk with her.

"No, Felicia already gave me the stupid thing this morning," Gail said irritably. "I'm starting to think they're just placebos." She looked into Cas's eyes. "Is everything OK? Why are you here, Cas?"

"I'm here to talk to you," he told her. "But we're not going to talk about your injuries, or about Lucifer. We're going to talk about us."

She laughed shortly. "You must have read my mind. That's pretty much all I've been thinking about, all night."

"Do you want to go first, or should I?" Cas asked her, squeezing her hands gently.

Gail looked at him evenly. "You decide."

"Are you sure you want me to do that?" Cas asked her in a wry tone. "Decision-making is not my strong point, as we both know."

" So you'll leave the decisions to me, and if they're the wrong ones, then it's my fault," Gail said pointedly.

"That's not my intention," Cas said earnestly. "In fact, I came here to own up to what I've  done and take responsibility for it. For everything."

"Well, you can't take responsibility for EVERYTHING," Gail retorted. She'd been so upset a moment ago, and now she was getting mad again. Cas was being too nice. How could she stay mad at him if he was going to be like that?

"I'm a screw-up," Cas said to her. "Dean told me that, and he was right. I've been screwing up one way or the other for most of my existence. But I have never screwed up anything as badly as when I decided to accept that Demon essence in me. I told you the decision was up to you because I was being a coward. You aren't responsible for any of my failings, Gail. I'm the screw-up, not you."

"Yes, you are," she agreed. He looked puzzled for a moment, but then Cas realized that this was going to be his admonishment. And, really, it was about time. "It seems almost like you've made a career out of making shaky decisions, to say the least," Gail continued. But then, surprisingly, she smiled. "You've got a bad temper, you're a little overbearing sometimes, and, somewhat confusingly, the amount of self-esteem you have would just about fill a thimble. You're not perfect, Cas. You're not even close."

He frowned, but he waited for her to go on. She was right, about all of it. But even though it hurt to hear her, of all people, say that to him, Cas welcomed it. He didn't want her to feel as though she had to lie to him in order to make him feel better any more. He had gotten away with far too much, far too easily, for far too long.

"Do you want to know what's wrong with ME, now?" Gail asked him.

He looked at her, brow furrowed. "What? What are you talking about?" he said. "There's nothing wrong with you. You're perfect."

She let go of his hands. "See, that's where you're wrong!" she exclaimed. "I'm not perfect, either! What's wrong with me is that I expected YOU to be perfect. And then I was disappointed when you weren't."

Cas was miserable now. He knew he'd disappointed her. "I'm sorry, Gail," he said quietly.

Now she was frustrated. "No, Cas, you're not hearing me." She took a deep breath, then let it out. "All my life, right up until I met you, I've had this picture in my mind of the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. He would be handsome, and kind, good to me and to others, strong, and brave. He would love me more than anything or anyone else, protect me from anyone or anything, and he would be so loving, both in bed and out of it, that I would never want to spend one second away from him."

Cas hung his head. He'd wanted to be all of that for her and more, and he had almost accomplished it. But he had gone off the rails, and the man she was talking about now was Sam, or Dean, maybe.

Gail continued, "I also wanted someone who was without problems, never lost his temper, and was so patient and kind that he would never disagree with anything I ever  said or did."

"That's not me," Cas said sadly.

"No, it certainly isn't," Gail agreed, and now she was smiling again. She touched his face, and he looked up at her. "But, you know what, Cas? That isn't anybody! I was being totally unreasonable. And you should have told me that, at the time. Instead, you twisted yourself into knots trying to be that guy, and then you snapped. I won't ever say that some of the stuff you did to me was in any way acceptable, but I will say that I know that wasn't really you. The real you IS a screw-up, but I love that guy so damn much that I never want to spend one second away from him. I don't need to forgive you, Cas, I just need to accept you for who and what you really are. And you need to accept me, for all of my imperfections. Do you think we can do that?"

Cas was amazed. "What do you mean, all of your imperfections?"

Gail shook her head. "I just told you one of them. A very big one. And now, I want you to tell me another imperfection of mine." But then, because she was who she was, she quipped, "But if you say I look fat in these pants, I may just have to leave you."

Cas smiled slowly. How could she possibly expect him to state any imperfection of hers, especially when she would go and say something as cute as that right now? Or when she would say anything that she had just said, for that matter? She was telling him that she loved him in spite of everything that was wrong with him. Maybe even because of everything that was wrong with him. Maybe THAT was what was wrong with her.

"You're a little stubborn, sometimes," he blurted out.

"There. Now we're getting somewhere," she said, looking almost pleased. "You're right, I am."

"Is this how couples talk?" Cas said, mystified.

"How the hell should I know?" Gail said, cheerfully enough. "All I do know is that I actually feel better now. How about you?"

Cas smiled. "I do, too. I love you so much, Gail. I'll try not to screw up so much in the future. But if I do, you'll forgive me, won't you?"

"Let's not push it," she said, smiling. "It depends on how badly you screw up. I love you, but I'm not a Saint, you know.  Rumour has it that I can be very stubborn."

He got off the chair and knelt down in front of her. " So I've heard," he said softly, still smiling. He took her face in both of his hands and kissed her, and she put her arms around him and kissed him back. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her gently.

"I don't know how couples talk, but I wouldn't mind seeing how they kiss," Gail quipped.

Cas smiled again. "Allow me to demonstrate," he said, and he kissed her again. She opened her mouth, and their tongues met. She caressed his back and his shoulders, and his arms tightened around her for a moment. Then he remembered, and he eased off immediately.

She broke the kiss. "I wish I wasn't in so much pain," she said to him. "I'd love to make up properly, if you know what I mean. Or improperly, as the case may be."

" So would I," Cas said, nuzzling her cheek. "But until the day you're well, I'll just have to be gently creative in expressing my love for you."

Gail was intrigued. "I like the sound of that," she said into his ear. "But I guess we shouldn't be talking like this right now. We certainly can't do anything about it at the moment."

"No, I guess we can't," he agreed. Then he kissed her again.

"You should get back," she said, kissing his face softly.

" Of course I should," he said, smiling. "But I'm a screw-up. I never seem to be able to do what I should."

He got to his feet. "Becky!" he called. When she came down the hall, Cas said, "Do you think that you and Felicia will be all right if I take Gail somewhere, just for a few minutes?"

Becky smiled. She got it. The two of them wanted to be alone. That was so sweet. It looked like Bobby had paired Cas with the right person, after all; out of all of the them, she was probably the only one who would give them her seal of approval to do something like this.

"Go ahead, you guys. We'll be fine," Becky said. She turned around and walked back to the kitchen.

Cas scooped Gail out of the wheelchair and winked her to the apartment in Vancouver. He laid her down on the bed and started to take off her pants.

"Let me know right away if you feel any pain," he told her.

"Cas, we shouldn't be doing this," she protested weakly. But it was a token protest, and they both knew it.

"I know," he said, nodding. But he eased her underwear down her hips anyway, and then he was kissing her thighs, and then she gave up, opening her legs to receive his tongue.

Then she was dressed again, and Cas was leaning down, kissing her with that amazing tongue of his.

"How did that feel?" he asked her.

"Wonderful, as always," she told him. "Only a little bit of pain, but I was in pain before, anyway. And I actually did forget about my injuries, for a few minutes there." She smiled and touched his face. "Thanks for that. I'm starting to feel really guilty, though. We should get back."

"Yes, we should," he agreed again, still kissing her.

"I hope we don't have to be apart for too long, but I never want you to pick me over what you should be doing," Gail said to him.

Cas didn't reply. Unless what he was doing was killing one of their  enemies or defending one of their friends from one of them, he would always pick her over what he was supposed to be doing. Every time. Being a screw-up had to have a silver lining, didn't it?

"One more, and then we'll go back," Cas said softly, and he leaned down and kissed her again, putting all the love he had for her into it.

Cas was putting Gail back into the wheelchair just as Becky rushed out into the library area. "Cas, thank God you're back!" she exclaimed. "Mark just called Felicia on her cell phone! She's talking to him right now!" Becky had never mastered the intricacies of Angel Radio, so calling  Castiel via that type of communication would not have occurred to her.

He ran down the hallway to the kitchen. As soon as Felicia saw him, she put the phone on speaker and set it down on the kitchen table.

" So you and Robbie are with your Angel friends now?" Mark was saying. "How's that going? Miss me yet?"

Felicia looked at  Castiel . What was she supposed to say here? He made a gesture to her: Keep him talking.

"I do miss you, Mark," Felicia said. Her heart was racing. If she could get him to give her some information on his whereabouts, Cas could pass it on to Bobby, Felicia thought.

Suddenly, her voice sounded different, and Mark figured he knew what was going on. She must think that he was pretty stupid. She had put him on speaker, which meant that someone Angelic was listening in on their conversation.

"Where are you, Mark?" Felicia asked him. "I'd like to see you."

"I don't think you'd like it here," he replied, smirking. "Not too many Angel types. How about if I come there? Where are YOU?"

Felicia looked at Cas, wide-eyed. He was nodding vigorously. If they could get Mark to come to the bunker, maybe they could get him to give them Lucifer's location. One way, or the other,  Castiel thought.

Felicia said, "Hold on, Mark." She hit the Hold button on the phone as Becky wheeled Gail into the kitchen.

Felicia looked at Cas. "Should I really give away our location? What if he tells Lucifer?"

Cas smiled grimly. "Lucifer already knows where we are. I can assure you of that. But if your husband really wants to talk to you, have him come here. I would welcome the chance to talk to him, myself."

Felicia frowned. "You mean torture him, don't you?"

"We need to find out where Lucifer is," Cas said, avoiding her question.

"I know that, Cas," she replied. "But he's Robbie's father."

"He doesn't care about Robbie, and he doesn't care about you,"  Castiel said bluntly. "He has chosen his path."

They stared at each other for a moment, and then she took the phone off Hold. "Mark? Are you still there?"

"Yes, Felicia.  So you've talked to either Bobby or  Castiel , and they've told you to tell me to come to the bunker," he said slyly. "You know they're going to torture me if I show up there, don't you, Felicia? Do you really want that to happen? Do you want to be the one to explain that to our son? Maybe they'll even make him watch."

"I think you have us confused with your boss," Cas said angrily. "That would be the kind of thing that he would do."

"This must be  Castiel ," Mark said, and they could hear the smile in his voice now. "I'm sorry I missed talking to you at the funeral. Is your little girlfriend there, too? Lucifer was heartbroken about what happened to her. I could bring him with me when I come there, if you'd like. I'm sure he would love to give her his condolences. But at least she's got the cast off, now." Oh, crap. He probably shouldn't have added that last part. The Angels weren't supposed to know that Lucifer could see into the bunker.

But none of the Angels seemed to react to that. All that Cas heard was Mark threatening to bring Lucifer with him if he came to the bunker, and Lucifer wanting to give Gail his "condolences". The fact that they couldn't possibly get in was immaterial. Gail and Felicia and Robbie were here alone, and that was way too close for comfort.

And all that Felicia could think about was her husband, being tortured by her fellow Angels. It would have to come to that, too; she could see it in  Castiel's face. Before she had come to live here on Earth, Felicia had spent years and years in Heaven, and she knew all too well about the methods that Jason and  Castiel had used during the Angel wars.

"Don't call me again, Mark," Felicia said, and she reached out once more, hanging up on him.

Castiel was angry. "Why did you do that?" he asked Felicia.

"Do you really want Lucifer to come here?" she shot back.

"If Lucifer wanted to come here, he would have done so by now,"  Castiel said, raising his voice. "Mark was simply trying to intimidate you. Now tell me the real reason you hung up the phone."

"I can't bear the thought of him being tortured," Felicia replied, an anguished look on her face. "I know, he's a traitor, but he's still my husband. Surely, you must understand that."

"Well, I don't," Cas said.

"You don't?" Felicia said quietly. "How did you feel when Jason was torturing Gail?"

Cas had no response for that. He guessed she had a point, though to him, the situations were completely different. But he was frustrated, and he was also scared. Despite what he'd said, he realized that Lucifer could indeed come to the bunker anytime he wanted. In fact, it was a mystery to  Castiel why he had not done so already. Even though Lucifer could not enter the bunker itself,  Castiel would have thought he would at least have tried, or just shown up, to scare its occupants. But  Castiel also recognized that a big part of fear was dread, and a big part of dread was anticipation. Tactically speaking, the fact that they had not seen or heard from Lucifer since the catastrophic confrontation at the Secret Garden was a brilliant move on Lucifer's part. The longer the wait, the greater the dread. And they were getting nowhere in their so-called "investigation". He didn't know about what the others might have found out, if anything, but Cas thought that being in Miami was a complete waste of time. He resolved to speak to Bobby about that.

"I'm going to Robbie's room," Felicia said abruptly. She rose and walked down the hall.

Cas let out a breath in frustration. Becky sat down in the seat Felicia had just vacated and looked at him. "Would you guys really torture Mark?" she asked Cas.

He looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"I think that's terrible," Becky said. "That's not something Angels should be doing."

Castiel frowned. "While I agree in principle, we have to do what is necessary sometimes, Becky."

"But then, what separates us from the bad guys?" Becky asked him.

She was on quite a roll today, Cas thought with faint amusement. That was the most astute and insightful thing he had ever heard her say.

Gail spoke up. "I've often wondered the same thing, Becky. But we've got to think of the greater good here. Lucifer can't be allowed to start Armageddon. Think of all the poor humans who will suffer here on Earth, if that happens."

Becky thought about that. Her Sam was a human, and although she figured he could take care of himself against practically anyone or anything, being human had its limitations. Cas and Gail were right. Becky had to grow up.

Bobby suddenly popped into the kitchen, and he was frowning at Cas.

"I should have known," Bobby said. "Look, Cas, just because you showed up in Las Vegas to save Gail from those thugs, contrary to my orders, that doesn't mean you can just up and desert your post any time you feel like it."

Gail frowned. Funny how she'd been thinking about that very same thing a little while ago. She was very grateful when Cas came to her aid, but once again, Bobby was reminding her that she always had to be rescued. What good was being an Original Angel, with alleged extra powers, if she couldn't save herself, once in a while? Yes, she'd set the animals upon  Aurielle and Lucifer, and that was something, to be sure. But then she'd been attacked from behind by a Demon-possessed panther, and now she was next to useless. She needed to figure out a way to get some of her Angel mojo back. The way things were now, she was a millstone around Cas's neck. He felt like he had to be here for her, but he should really be out there, doing what he could to capture Lucifer before it was too late.

"I agree," she piped up. "Cas, I love you for it, but you can't play nursemaid to me right now. You have to do your job."

Cas was frowning. "There is no reason for me to be in Miami. Crowley has sent us on a wild goose chase."

"It's the only lead we have, Cas," Bobby said, trying to be patient.

"Well, we might have had more, if Felicia had been able to convince Mark to come here," Cas retorted petulantly, "or if she had even tried to do so."

"I know, Cas," Bobby sighed. "That's why I didn't come down right away. I didn't want to interrupt the phone call."

"Then you know that it was beneficial for me to be here," Cas said.

"That's bull, Cas," Bobby said, annoyed. "That call didn't accomplish anything."

"I could be here to protect Felicia and Robbie," Cas argued.

"You mean to protect Gail, don't you?" Bobby shot back.

"Yes, and her, too. What's wrong with that?" Cas said angrily.

"Nothing's wrong with that," Bobby replied. "But you're supposed to be a leader, Cas. What kind of example are you setting if you just do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it? I want you and Becky to go back to Miami for the time being. Get out there and look around for a big group of Demons. Crowley told me they're gathering in those five cities I sent you guys to, and they're waiting. They've got to be waiting for him, Cas. He's  gonna show up, and wherever he shows up first is the place we're going to need everyone. If he shows up in Miami, you can call the other Angels, and then you'll have the whole team at your disposal. If he shows up in one of those other cities first, they'll call you, and you'll go there. That's where I need you, Cas, out there. Not here."

Cas was frustrated, but he realized that Bobby was right. He and Becky would have to go back.

Becky nudged Cas. "Are you going to tell him?" she said. Cas looked at her blankly, so Becky prompted him. "About  Aurielle . About what I did."

Gail's eyebrows shot up. " Aurielle ? What about her?" she asked.

Cas was alarmed. He had promised Gail that he would be completely honest with her from now on, but he had neglected to tell her about that. They had had their discussion about their relationship, and then he had loved her, and then Mark had called. There hadn't been time, that was all.  So he told Gail and Bobby about it now, hoping that Gail would understand.

Gail understood, all right. Her injuries were keeping her cloistered away here, and  Aurielle was stalking Cas, like one of those big cats in the Secret Garden. And her  wanna-be rival had been smart, showing up as someone Cas already knew. Gail was seething. "Now you've really got to get Lucifer," she told Cas. "She'll be with him when you do. I'll bet you anything."

Cas nodded. He agreed. How else would  Aurielle have known where he was? "I guess Brenda is dead, then," he commented sadly. Even though her attentions had been  unwelcome , he still felt badly that it had come to that.

"Why would you say that she's dead, Cas?" Becky asked curiously.

"Because  Aurielle would kill anyone who would appear to her to be a rival," Cas responded grimly, looking at Gail. "That's why I don't want her anywhere near you."

"Well then, I guess you've got to go get her," Gail said mildly. She wasn't feeling very mild at the moment, though. She wished  Aurielle would just give up, already. After all this time, she was still trying to worm her way into  Castiel's heart.  Aurielle was an annoyance, but she was also a potentially deadly one. Poor Brenda. She may have had a crush on Cas as well, but she had not deserved such a fate.

But Becky was disturbed now. She herself had taken the vessel she now had, back in Las Vegas. A young girl named Helen. Did that mean that Becky had killed Helen? She asked Bobby this, now.

He frowned. "You probably did, Becky, I'm sorry to say."

As Becky was brooding about that, Gail was also thinking about the subject. She had been toying with the idea of asking Bobby for a new vessel, as Cas had suggested. But did that mean that someone would have to die in order for her to get one? In that case, then it was absolutely out of the question. She would just have to soldier along, then. There was no way she could ever have that on her conscience.

Cas rose from his chair and walked over to her, bending down to kiss her on the cheek. "We'll talk soon," he said, then he whispered in her ear, "But don't hesitate to call me if you need me."

Then Cas took Becky's hand, and they winked out of the bunker.

Bobby frowned at Gail, and she shrugged, trying to look as innocent as possible. "Want to play some poker?" she said, smiling at him.

He regarded her for a moment. "Nah," Bobby said, his beard twitching. "I'd probably lose my shirt."

He winked back out, as Gail breathed a sigh of relief.

Lucifer,  Aurielle and Mark were in the back of a white stretch limousine, heading for Los Angeles. That struck Lucifer as extremely funny. The City of Angels. What a misnomer that was. If there was ever a place for him on Earth, this was probably it. Well, maybe besides Las Vegas, or Washington, D.C., that was. But, while Las Vegas was bold and in-your-face about the sinning that was on offer there, and Washington, D.C. was hypocritical about theirs, Los Angeles hid its sins very well under a golden veneer of glitz and glamour. He was hitting the big time now, and he'd better be on his game.

He emerged from the limousine, looking around. The studio didn't look especially glamorous, but this was what they called the "back lot". He was just starting out, after all, so his set was small, by L.A. standards. Still, his show was going national now, and soon it would be broadcast all over the world.

Mark had made sure to have an array of dazzling young women waiting to greet Lucifer outside his office. Now that his show would be bigger, he would need a bigger staff, and there was no shortage of aspiring young starlets wanting to work in the industry. Lucifer greeted each girl personally on his way in, taking their hands in his and telling each one how gorgeous they were, and how grateful he was that they would be working for him. A couple of the especially buxom girls received a bonus in the form of an inappropriate touch, in one of the  more curvier areas. If they objected, they were paid off and asked to leave. Lucifer didn't want any prudes on his staff.

He was growing more restless with every passing day, though. He knew he would have to make his move very soon. Bobby wasn't going to leave the teams out there forever. Any day now, God would realize that he had been had. Sure, there were hordes of Demons gathering in the five cities where the teams were, but they weren't waiting for Lucifer, per se, merely for his signal to begin the mayhem. Lucifer didn't want the entire bunch of them to be back at the bunker when he visited. Then he would have no choice but to kill them all, and then his toys would be all gone. He wanted to draw this out, play with them one at a time. But he needed to get Gail first, and the time was now, while she was still injured, and in the company of a submissive female Angel and a human child only. Lucifer would just have to make sure that  Castiel was otherwise occupied at the time. Bobby, too, though Lucifer knew he hadn't been spending much time there of late. Bobby thought the bunker's protections were enough. In this case, Bobby was the " idjit ",  Lucifer thought, amused. Lucifer was the Devil, and he was the Alpha; he could do pretty much anything he wanted, go wherever he chose.

He changed into a dazzlingly white suit for his first national TV show, and he waited for  Aurielle to tie his tie. Too bad they couldn't put the face of one of his female staff on that body of  Aurielle's , he thought. And maybe transplant a little of their sweet and cooperative attitudes, while they were at it. She was compliant enough, but  Aurielle still had that really crazy vibe to her. She seemed a little worse, even, now that she had committed her first murder. He had handed her the knife, but she had attacked Brenda with such ferocity that even Lucifer had been a little awed. He would have to make sure to keep her off Gail until he was done with  Castiel's girlfriend; though how he was going to do that was a mystery.  Aurielle was just crazy enough to chop Gail into little pieces and then worry about the consequences later. If she was a really, really good girl, Lucifer might let her, but only once he himself had tired of playing with Gail, first.

He came out on stage to wild applause and cheering. The audience still had its fair share of Demons, but Lucifer was heartened to see that the audience was predominately made up out of humans now.

"Thank you for my very warm welcome to L.A.," Lucifer said. "Los Angeles. The City of Angels. You would think that that would be a good thing, wouldn't you? But, between you and me, Angels are mostly uptight jerks who wouldn't know a good time if you shook it in their face. People think they're do-gooders, but they're not. Most of them are selfish liars. They don't care about the human race. They think they're better than all of you. They can't wait to see all of you die in Armageddon, so they can take the world as their playground."

Paul sat up straight in his seat at that. With just a few sentences, Lucifer had nailed his father and his beliefs to the wall. Raphael had been on a mission to bring about the end of the world, for that very reason. He'd believed Angels to be far superior to humans, and many of his fellow Angels had, too. Raphael had handpicked the Upper Echelon board himself, making sure that it was comprised of men who felt exactly the same way. The only fly in the ointment had been  Castiel , who did not. God Himself had placed  Castiel on the board for some inexplicable reason, and there was nothing that Raphael could do about that. And they had almost succeeded in bringing about the Apocalypse, too. If it had not been for  Castiel and his friends Sam and Dean Winchester, and Bobby Singer, the Earth would have been annexed to Heaven, and Raphael would have been its ruler. That damned  Castiel . He was a classic misfit. A spanner in the works. A patch of psychedelic  colour in a sea of white. Why God  favoured him was a mystery. He was a total screw-up, and an embarrassment to the realm.

That was why Raphael had come back so eagerly from the Netherworld, to nail  Castiel to Heaven's cross at the tribunal. Xavier had told Paul about that when they'd spoken in Hell a few weeks back. But Paul's father had been the screw-up on that day. His testimony had been very damning, but Raphael's arrogant attitude had taken much of the sting out of his presentation, and when the Archangel had bullied Gail, tossing her across the room, the court of public opinion had turned against him. Not that that had mattered in the end. The board had still put  Castiel to death. The fix had been in, and Raphael's appearance had turned out to be nothing more than an interesting footnote. But  Castiel couldn't even die right.  So he was back now, leading the team against Lucifer, and Paul had been sent here by Crowley to help  Castiel's team defeat the Devil.

But Paul had his own agenda. He was ostensibly here to spy on Lucifer and report back to Crowley, who was supposedly going to hand Lucifer to Bobby on a silver platter. But Crowley hadn't known where Lucifer was, so he'd sent Paul to Earth to find him. Finding Lucifer had been a piece of cake. All Paul had to do was follow the hordes of  Demons and see where they went. He had made brief appearances in the five cities where Bobby's would-be heroes were deployed, but Paul soon realized that those were red herrings. He was pretty sure that this was it, right here. He didn't have confirmation yet, but this guy had to be Lucifer. Who else would come prancing out here with such a big ego, and such nerve? The "Reverend" Devlin was no preacher, that was for sure. And although Paul couldn't argue with one word when it came to what the Rev was saying about Angels, he wasn't drinking the Kool-Aid or jumping on the bandwagon just yet. He was here to observe only, at least for the moment. He may or may not report his findings to Crowley. Paul hadn't decided yet. He shared a lot of Crowley's beliefs, but he was not Crowley's bitch, nor was the King of Hell Paul's Master. Paul's number-one priority was himself and his own politics, and the white man was not going to run his life any longer.

Reverend Gordon was talking about Armageddon again now, describing some of the horrible things that were going to happen. He was receiving visions, he said, and although he was a sinner himself, and one of the unlikeliest guys to ever be a preacher, he'd felt compelled to go on TV just so he could let people know what they were going to face.

"I'm not saying that you should all bow down to me, or any of that crap," Lucifer said. "All I'm saying is that if you continue to tune in, I'll give you updates as I receive them. And right now, I'm seeing dead animals, folks. That's the next sign, apparently. And Noah's dead, so there won't be any ark coming along." He smiled inwardly, thinking of  Castiel , the eternal screw-up. That was what people in the industry would call an "in joke".

" So what are we supposed to do about it?" a man yelled out from the audience.

Lucifer frowned momentarily, but then he brightened again. "Do? There's nothing we can do," he said cheerfully. "If you're looking for me to save you, you're looking at the wrong guy. What are you supposed to do? Do your wife, or your girlfriend, or the guy next door. Or hump the family pet, if you're into that sort of thing. Give Fido a good send-off. I can't tell you what the right thing is to do, here. I can only tell you what I see. And I, for one, intend to survive Armageddon. There's still way too much pleasure to be had here. But if I have to go out, I'm going to go out with a bang, not a whimper." Well, maybe both, actually, he thought. Lucifer hadn't forgotten the sounds he'd heard Gail make when  Castiel's head had been between her legs. " So you folks can follow me, if you want. Oh, and just to let you know, Allison's back with me now. Her consultation didn't go too well, I'm afraid. The new face she was hoping to get didn't work out for her. But she's still in  there pitching.  So if you want to send a few more donations our way, we'll get her a second opinion. What the hell. Money's only money. When Armageddon comes, it'll be only paper. But we need to get poor Allison laid before it all blows up. I'll be back tomorrow, everyone. Gordon out."

And just like that, the show was over. Mark had stationed a few of the most attractive girls by the exits to take donations, and the money was piling up. Money may only be paper, but an awful lot of it was required to keep this operation going.

Lucifer loosened his tie and took off his jacket, and  Aurielle brought him a drink. He sat behind his desk and put his feet up on it.

"How did it go with Felicia?" he asked Mark.

Mark frowned. Lucifer was not going to be happy with his answer. "I couldn't get anything out of her. But that's probably because  Castiel was there, listening to us."

Lucifer swung his legs off the desk and sat up, eyes flashing red. " Castiel ? What was he doing there? He's supposed to be in Miami!"

"I don't know," Mark replied. "Probably there to see Gail."

Lucifer concentrated for a moment. "Well, he's not there now. He and sweet young Becky are back in Miami." He thought about it. Maybe now was the time to move. If  Castiel was going to just leave his post any old time he felt like it to go to the bunker, what was to prevent him from doing it any time he wanted to in the future? Bobby obviously couldn't keep the leash on  Castiel for too long. That shouldn't have come as a news flash to Lucifer. But he had to make sure the wild card was safely in the deck, if he hoped to take Gail without any complications.

"I need to take a field trip," he said to Mark and  Aurielle . "Actually, a couple. Hold the fort, I'll be back." He waved a hand over himself and changed his clothing. Black shirt and black pants. Standard bad-guy attire.

Then he winked himself out of the office.

He had debated which city to visit. Logically, if he wanted to keep  Castiel busy, he should just go to Miami, and start the trouble there. But  Castiel was the type of guy who would probably just try to handle it alone, to try to save exposing any of his friends to mortal danger.  So Lucifer went to Detroit, instead.

It had been a toss-up  between Detroit and Pittsburgh. New Orleans was a non-factor, really, and it was the women who were in Indianapolis. Lucifer had been greatly amused by that, actually. He wondered if Linda and Jody had watched any TV while they were there. If so, they could have seen him and not even known it. Gail may have had her bright idea to circulate a likeness of him, but his Reverend Devlin vessel didn't look anything like that, of course. He would only wear his true face when he wanted to make a statement.

He was glad he'd opted for Detroit now that he'd seen it, though. What a  craphole . The total antithesis of where he'd just been. Killing these people would only be doing them a  favour .  Castiel would have to come here, to bail out his bestie, when Dean bit off a bit more than he could chew.

Lucifer froze everyone in the immediate vicinity and called the Demons to come to him. They began to emerge from the dark, gathering all around him. Their black eyes shone with excitement. Finally, some action.

"I want you to start the killing, right here," he instructed them. "Go as wild as you want. Be as creative as you want. Make lots of noise, attract attention. If anyone shows up from the TV news, make sure they get lots of gory shots. I'll put them in my next sermon, let people know that Armageddon is no joke. You'll all be big TV stars, and you'll be special, because you'll be my first." He smiled benevolently at them. Then he frowned. "But don't kill anyone on the list I've given you. Crowley isn't the only one who knows how to torture. You can give those people as much hell as you want, pun definitely intended, and cause as much pain as they can stand, but I don't want any of them dead. Are we clear on that?"

"Yes," they chorused. They didn't particularly like it, but he was the boss. And they would get to kill a lot of humans tonight, at least.

"Now get going," Lucifer said, feeling a little like a coach giving a pep talk before the big game to a very jacked-up sports team. "Let the streets flow with blood. From what I see here, it can only be an improvement."

He winked himself away, reanimating the humans. The Demons grinned for a moment, and then the slaughter began.

Oliver turned off the TV, continuing to stare at the black screen for a moment. So, it was true. He'd been receiving visions for a couple of weeks now, and he had seen the signs when he read the newspaper every morning. The Antichrist had come, and Armageddon would soon rain down on the human race. Just as he'd been saying for years now.

Reverend Devlin was the Devil; Oliver was sure of it. He had been seeing that grinning face in his nightmares. If you looked more closely, you could almost see a different face lurking just underneath it, and that was the face of Satan. How could people not see that? And just look at the stuff he was saying. Running down  Angels the way he was, mocking everything that was good and decent. He had an agenda, and the  sheeple that followed him were going to be led into sin and corruption. Lucifer wouldn't have to cause Armageddon himself; he could just sit back after winding the people up like he was doing, and they would take care of it themselves. And if one-third of his studio audience hadn't been actual Demons, Oliver was a monkey's uncle.

He needed to do something about this. Oliver had been given a second chance at life when he'd shot  himself but had been saved by an Angel. The one who'd saved Oliver's life had once been one of the most loathsome creatures Oliver had ever seen, but he himself had been given a chance for redemption, and he was now one of God's Exalted. When he had dug that bullet out of Oliver's chest, the psychic had been imbued with the Holy Spirit at the Angel's touch, and now Oliver was a true believer.  So he'd been given a second chance at that, too. God had saved Oliver, he was sure of it, and now Oliver needed to step up and show his gratitude. If he could save the world from Lucifer, he could try to repay the debt.

Oliver loaded his rifle with the pentagram bullets and threw his bags in the car.

Rowena had seen the broadcast, too. She had been sitting at a bar knocking back a few when the bartender had put the show on. The patrons had groaned, but the bartender had smiled. "No, wait. You've  gotta see this guy. I've seen some of his so-called sermons on YouTube, and he's hilarious! Really entertaining. Just wait, you'll thank me."

So everyone had settled in to watch the Reverend Devlin, and he did not disappoint. He was outrageous. They could see why his show had garnered so much attention.

Rowena's eyes narrowed. The man certainly commanded attention. He had a certain charisma about him. But she saw nothing particularly remarkable. At least, not until the camera panned out to show the studio audience. Demons? What the hell? Had her son sent them topside to observe this man? There were always Demons assigned to Earth, of course; there always had been. But this many in one place signified to her that something was up here.

Could the Reverend be Lucifer? She peered at him. He was certainly talking like the Devil might, especially the way he was speaking about Angels. She had smirked when he'd said what he'd said about them. She happened to agree with him there. A bunch of hypocrites was all they were. Condemning Rowena's kind for enjoying physical pleasures. Meanwhile, their chief lieutenant indulged with Gail every chance he got, and his Angel girlfriend had been so happy about it that she had worked day and night to change Heaven's laws so that they could all do the same. The hypocrisy boggled Rowena's mind.

She finished her drink and hopped off her bar stool. This could be worth a look. It was time for a road trip, to the City of Angels.

Ethan had that hinky feeling. He'd had it all night. Something was  happening or was about to happen. Dean had been complaining that they were wasting their time here, but Ethan disagreed. This had just been the calm before the storm.

Dean was flipping channels on the TV, looking for something that might hold his interest for an hour or so before he went to sleep. He'd passed a couple of chick movies and reality shows, and he was getting fed up. Didn't Detroit even have a decent TV station? He passed by a televangelist dressed in a bright white suit, and he rolled his eyes. Did people actually sit and watch that crap? He persisted. Maybe one of the lower channels, then. He would even watch that stupid Supernatural show at this point, if he could find it. Now that he'd seen the way it was filmed, he would probably be able to stand watching it for a bit. Maybe it would be one of the ones that Cas was in. That would be all right.

He flipped again, and a newscaster came on, saying that there was something going on in downtown Detroit, and it did not look good. Then she went to a reporter, who was live on the scene.

Both Dean and Ethan sat up straight as the reporter described the chaos in the downtown core. They could see people running around in the background, and cars on fire. The men exchanged glances. Was there some kind of riot going on?

Just then, a man came into the camera's view. He had a knife to the throat of another man, who was struggling to break free. As Dean and Ethan watched in horror, he slashed the knife across his victim's throat. Then he stuck the knife in the reporter's arm, grinning at the camera.

As the newswoman screamed in pain and dropped the microphone, Ethan and Dean looked at each other again. They had seen the assailant's eyes. What the hell was Crowley trying to pull?

They grabbed their weapons and left the motel room.

Frank and Kevin were sitting in a bistro when Kevin got the call.

Frank had just finished eating, and he was considering ordering another coffee. It was weird sharing a room with a guy who never slept, and Frank had not been sleeping well because of it. Every time he woke up, the poor guy was just sitting there at the table, either looking at the computer or just staring off into space. He'd told Frank he was trying to come up with some kind of vision, anything that would help them to figure out where Lucifer was and what he was doing. But Kevin was just as dry as Chuck was when it came to Lucifer. The young Prophet seemed really distressed about it, and his agitation was rubbing off on Frank. And the fact that they were just sitting around much of the time wasn't exactly helping. Frank liked a little leisure time as much as the next guy, but he was a man of action, and he'd thought that they would have been pressed into service in some way by now. He and Kevin had seen lots of Demons on the streets here, but they just seemed to be hanging around. It had taken a lot of self-control on Frank's part not to just walk up to them and start stabbing. He questioned the wisdom of just letting Demons walk around free like that. Sooner or later, it was going to bite them all in the ass. He was sure of it.

And when Kevin got the SOS from Ethan on Angel Radio, that had been Frank's first thought. But there was no time to say he'd told them so.

Jody and Linda were restless, too. They had also seen a number of Demons hanging around the university campus and the downtown core, but they weren't doing anything, really, just looking like they were trying to blend in. It was starting to creep Jody out. And Linda was really foaming at the mouth. She had a water gun in her purse filled with holy water, and she'd been dying to spray every Demon bastard she saw right in the face. She guessed Bobby knew what he was doing, but if it had been up to Linda, she would just kidnap a couple of the ugliest ones and bring them back to the bunker for Cas and the Winchesters to torture for information. But God was the boss, so she gritted her teeth and bore it.

But then she got the call from Kevin. Ethan had called him and said that something really big was going on in Detroit. Could Jody and Linda go there right away? Linda grabbed Jody's hand and winked them out of there.

While Kevin was calling his mother, Ethan was calling Chuck. He told Chuck the same thing as Kevin was telling Linda: that something really big was going down in Detroit, and they needed backup. He and Dean had weapons, but the two of them weren't enough to take care of a full-scale attack like the one they were seeing here.

"Tell Sam to bring everything he's got," Ethan told Chuck.

"Have you called Cas yet?" Chuck asked him.

"No," Ethan said tersely. He and Dean really wanted Cas there, but Kevin was afraid for Becky, he told Chuck.

"Well, that's too bad," Chuck said bluntly. "We can't worry about that right now. If it's as big as you say, we need all  hands on deck. Cas is our best fighter. I'm sure Bobby would want him to be there."

"Can you call him then, Chuck?" Ethan said. "Dean's trying to do too much. I'd better jump in there and help him, before he gets himself killed. It's a massacre here, Chuck." Then he signed off abruptly.

Crap. Chuck told Sam to grab all the weapons he had, and while Sam was doing that, Chuck called Cas.

"Ethan said what?"  Castiel asked Chuck, astonished.

"He said there are Demons running wild in the streets of downtown Detroit, killing everyone in sight," Chuck replied. "We're all going there now, to help him and Dean out. Ethan said Dean's running around trying to kill them all, all by himself. Ethan asked me to call you, ASAP."

"Thanks, Chuck," Cas said. He signed off immediately and told Becky what was going on. He thought for an instant about telling her to go to the bunker, but he didn't want to take the time to explain, and even though she was extremely weak, Becky was one of God's designated Angels. They couldn't keep babying Becky. It was unfortunate that her first real test would come in this kind of a situation, but it couldn't be helped. Their friends needed them.

He took her hand and winked them out of Miami. And this time, he made sure that she had her weapon with her.

Gail was back on the computer. She hadn't received a response from "First Edition" yet, but she had noticed that there was some more material posted, and she had nothing better to do at the moment, anyway.

To her surprise, when she clicked on the link, there were two more books posted already. Whoever this person was, they were certainly prolific. Or maybe they had already written the things and were just posting them in dribs and drabs, whenever they had time. That would seem to rule Metatron out, though, wouldn't it? What else did he have to do all day? Unless he'd gotten a job, or something. But she highly doubted it. A guy like him would never deign to get a real job. Besides, what would he need with a job? He would be a Demon now, wouldn't he? If he was with Lucifer, Metatron was likely working for him in some capacity. But the more time that passed, the more Gail doubted that the two of them were together. From what she'd seen of those two when they'd been in the cage, Lucifer and Metatron despised each other.  So it was much easier to picture Metatron sitting in some lair somewhere all by himself, laughing evilly and rubbing his hands together in glee. Then again, it might not even be him at all.

She kept vacillating.  Of course it was Metatron; who else would be out there, finding new and creative ways to torment her and Cas? He'd tried stabbing Gail to death with a knife, but that hadn't worked, so now he was doing it with a pen. But it couldn't be Metatron; how on earth would he know so many  intimate details, literally, about her life? How could he, possibly? But then again, how could anyone? Maybe, in a strange twist worthy of Stephen King, Gail had written them herself; was there such a thing as automatic fan fiction writing? She would have to ask Chuck about that.

Whatever the case, she was back on the emotional roller coaster now. She kept reading, as if her life depended on it. As if she didn't already know what was going to happen. They had drunk the potion for the cure now, after Cas had bitten her under the guise of the Demon so that she would let the brothers take him away and chain him up in order to force-feed it down his throat. It had worked, and Cas was finally himself again, the good Angel, the decent man. Happy times, right? But, wait: he had a confession to make. He had held her down and forced that first dose of his diseased blood into her. She had been partly blaming herself that whole time, thinking that she had been stupid enough to take it from him willingly. Gail could remember how badly that revelation had hurt her. The fact that he couldn't stop from becoming the monster that he had become at the time did nothing to negate the sense of hurt and betrayal she'd felt when he had told her that. Their blood bond had been washed away by the potion that was the cure, and she hadn't been able to forgive him for his  action or stay living with him.

So Cas was living alone now in the narrative, contemplating suicide as Gail sat in her room at the bunker, crying buckets over the loss of the only man she would ever love. What a heart-wrenching turn of events. The reader felt sympathy for them both. And then, just because life was like that sometimes and God obviously wasn't finished screwing around with them yet, the car accident with Sam happened. Cas was doing his penance, trying to become a better Angel so that she would love him again, and maybe so he could gain even one ounce of self-respect back. Now the reader was rooting for Cas once more. And Gail was trying to get over him by becoming a stronger woman, and by chairing the new board in Heaven. Both Angels were reinventing and rehabilitating themselves. But would they ever get back together, or had too much happened between them that they could never come back from? Now she and Sam were the ones who were drawing closer, bonding over their intellect.

But then the accident had happened, and Cas had sacrificed the inroads he had been making in getting Gail's goodwill back by sending her and Sam back in time in order to make Sam well again. This time, Gail had taken the brunt of the blow from the truck. and because she was an Angel, Bobby had been able to heal most of her injuries, and Sam only had a broken leg to show for the experience. Cas was a hero, but Gail and Sam didn't know it.

Wait, what? Gail scrolled up and read that whole sequence again. This was news to her. So, that whole summer had happened twice? No wonder she had been so confused. To this day, she still had no recollection of that first go-round. Well, this explained that, didn't it? Cas had literally sent her and Sam back in time to do a reset from the day of the accident. But she supposed she couldn't get too mad at having been manipulated yet again, because apparently this time, it had been with her full consent. She could completely see herself agreeing to it, too. If it would save Sam's life, and it had, of course, she would have agreed to it every time, given up a thousand summers if need be.  So she could accept that now, and the second summer had actually turned out just as well, anyway. Eventually.

But something else was starting to bother her now. Bobby was God, right? So why was it that he could never seem to be able to step up to the plate when it really counted? OK, maybe Gail could buy that he hadn't been able to bring Sam out of his coma. Even though it had seemed more like a plot device to her, Bobby had made the argument that since a coma was more an injury of the mind than of the body, he could not heal it. But Sam had suffered only a broken leg in the second accident. Or, was it the first accident, for the second time? No wonder she never read science fiction; this time travel stuff was too confusing. And she herself had a broken arm now. Even if Bobby couldn't cure comas, or replace missing chunks of flesh, shouldn't he be able to fix broken bones? Or, for that matter, shouldn't he be able to see where Lucifer was now, or Metatron, or even  Aurielle ? God was the Almighty, wasn't he? There was something really weird going on here.

Gail called Bobby on Angel Radio, asking him to come down to the bunker.

The entire team was in Detroit now, fighting furiously as waves of Demons descended on the downtown area. The human bodies had been piling up until Frank, Sam and  Castiel got there, but now, the humans were largely forgotten as the Demons concentrated on their most hated of enemies. Lucifer had left specific instructions not to kill any of the God Squad, but that didn't mean they couldn't inflict as many painful wounds as possible on them.

One of the Demons grabbed Becky by the throat and shoved her up against a wall. Lucifer hadn't said anything about certain other types of activities either, had he? She was kind of cute, and he hadn't had any action in quite a while, violent or otherwise. He saw no reason why he couldn't have both.

He had been just about to tear her clothes open when he felt a knife at his throat. "I don't think so," Cas growled. He drew the knife across the Demon's throat and It crumpled to the ground. Then Cas stabbed It a few more times, just to make sure.

Becky looked at Cas wide-eyed, the Demon's blood dripping from her face. "Thanks, Cas," she said dazedly. He smiled grimly. "I owed you one, anyway," he said. "Now hold up your weapon, high, just like we taught you. I believe in you, Becky."

As Becky smiled, Cas saw that three Demons had Chuck cornered. The Prophet was fighting as hard as he could, but he had already sustained a few slash wounds, and he was flagging. Cas ran over to help, stabbing two of the Demons in the back as Chuck killed the other.

"Johnny on the spot," Chuck said to Cas. "Thanks."

Now Chuck noticed that another Demon had Dean on the ground. His hands were around Dean's neck, and he was choking him. Screw Lucifer, the Demon had thought. The Winchesters had killed way too many of his kind, and he wasn't going to let this golden opportunity go to waste.

Chuck ran over and grabbed the Demon from behind, throwing him off Dean and finishing him with a stab to the chest. Dean got up slowly, clearing his throat, trying to speak. Chuck waved him off. They could make up later.

Ethan and Frank were fighting side by side, killing Demons left and right. For two men who had never fought together before, their efforts were almost balletic in their coordination. Jody watched the men admiringly for a moment, but then Kevin was blindsided, and she had to run over and kill the Demon who had tackled the young Angel.

Kevin bounced up off the asphalt and looked around him. That guy had simply taken him by surprise, and he was grateful to Jody for helping him out, but he wanted to prove that he could make a contribution. Then he saw his mother, kicking and screaming as two Demons held her arms behind her and the third tried to grab her flailing legs. Yeah, Kevin didn't think so. He ran over and stabbed the Demon who was currently trying to avoid Linda's kicks. Then Kevin punched one of the others in the face, and that Demon let go of Linda. Kevin's mother killed the other Demon that had been restraining her, and her son killed the one he'd punched. Then Linda looked at Kevin and smiled. She'd never been prouder of him.

Sam had run over to see if he could help, but the Demons were all dead by the time he got there. He had sustained a few slash wounds, but Sam hardly felt the pain as the adrenaline rushed through his veins. As he grinned at Kevin and congratulated the young Angel, Sam felt a knife stick in his side, and he swung around to see a massive Demon smiling down at him. "Winchester blood," the Demon said. "The sweetest blood of all." As he looked lovingly at his knife, feeling very pleased with himself, the Demon felt a slight pain in his back, then another, and then another. He turned around to see Becky standing there, her knife dripping with his blood.

The distraction had given Sam an instant to regroup, and he slit the Demon's throat from behind. It fell to the ground with a mighty thud.

"Earthquake warning," Sam quipped. He smiled at Becky. "Thanks for the assist."

Her face lit up. She had helped to save her beloved Sam, and he had given her a genuine smile. No weird looks, no awkwardness; just a real smile. If she was going to die tonight, at least she would die with that memory.

But no one was going to die tonight, except for a bunch of Demons. Cas was going to make sure of that. A few of their team members were bleeding now, and Sam and Linda had wounds that would need  attention . But aside from that, everyone had fought well, helping each other when the need had arisen, and the number of Demons had thinned considerably.

A few minutes later, the downtown core was quiet except for the sounds of blood dripping from the bodies of the dead Demons and the humans they had killed, and the crackling of the fire from a few burning cars that the rampaging Demons had set alight.

Cas had his hand on Sam's side, healing his stab wound, while Chuck was tending to Linda. The rest of the Angels checked their human friends, cleaning up any slash wounds there were, and then they checked each other.

Cas looked at each team member. "Is everyone all right?"

"We're fine, Cas. The Demons don't look too good, though," Frank smirked. "Guess Crowley's  gonna have to put an ad in the paper. 'Now hiring'."

"'Only douchebags need apply'," Dean quipped, wiping his bleeding face with his sleeve as the group laughed.

"Dead Demons and laughing Angels. The stuff of my nightmares." Crowley's voice, from behind them.

"What is it, Gail?" Bobby asked her. "Are  you all right?" She had a look on her face that he couldn't quite identify.

"It's not me I'm concerned about, it's you," she replied. "Can we talk for a minute, Bobby?"

"Yeah, sure, Gail," he said, sitting in the chair across from her. "What's going on?"

She closed the laptop and looked at him. "I need to ask you something."

"What?" Bobby said, curious. She still had that funny look on her face.

Gail took a deep breath, and then she took the plunge. "What's going on with you, Bobby? Why can't you detect any of them? And, why can't you heal me?"

Bobby frowned. He had been hoping this would come up later, rather than sooner. He'd thought that Sam might be the one to figure it out, but Gail had always been right up there in the brains department, too. And she'd had nothing to do but sit here and think.

Still, he tried to brazen it out. He hadn't wanted any of them to know yet, not in the midst of this crisis. "I can't see them because they're shielded, Gail," he responded.

She gave a half-shrug. "Okay, fine. But why can't you heal me, or my arm, at least? Shouldn't God be able to do that?"

Bobby had no answer for that. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. She was staring at him evenly, waiting for an explanation that he didn't want to give. But then he sighed. He'd known he would have to come clean eventually. His status was slowly starting to become obvious.

"Yeah, God should be able to do that," Bobby told her. "There's only one problem. I'm not God, Gail."

Lucifer wished he had picture-in-picture now. This was some compelling viewing. Crowley had just shown up in Detroit, wondering why the hell the A-Team had gone nuts and slaughtered scores of Demons. And now Bobby was telling Gail he wasn't God? What the hell?

Crowley knew that his dead subjects had gone rogue, of course, but he was extremely angry now, and he wanted to take it out on somebody. And who better than his Brother, standing there in the middle of it all, his clothing soaked with the blood of Crowley's fallen employees?

"Why is it it's always you?" he snarled at  Castiel .

"Just lucky, I guess," Cas said, shrugging. He wasn't one bit put off by Crowley's tone. What Cas and his team had just done was what should have been done in the first place, in Cas's opinion. He was only sorry that the Demons had been successful in killing the humans that lay dead here.

" So you're here to yell at us for killing those guys?" Kevin said to Crowley. It still scared him whenever he saw the King of Hell, but he was emboldened now, high on adrenaline. He had just proven himself in a real fight, and Kevin felt as if he could stand up to anyone at this moment.

Crowley glared at Kevin. It was one thing to be smart-mouthed by  Castiel ; they were peers, and Crowley was long used to that. But young Kevin had to learn his place. He may have killed a couple of Demons tonight, but he had not earned his stripes yet.

"If I were to yell, I could shatter your eardrums," he said to Kevin in a quiet voice, not unlike  Castiel's when he was at his most angry.

Reflexively, Linda stepped in front of her son. "You leave him alone," she hissed. "Didn't you torment him enough when he was alive?"

Crowley smirked. "Perhaps, but I wasn't the one who made him an Angel. Was I, Sam?"

"Shut up, Crowley," Dean barked. "You know it wasn't Sam who did that."

"I'm sure that's a great consolation to young Kevin," Crowley said sarcastically. "He's still got to look at the face of his killer every time you lot are together, doesn't he?"

Becky was shocked. What was Crowley talking about? Surely Sam wasn't the one who had killed Kevin?

Crowley saw the look of confusion on her face, and he smiled nastily. "When will you people learn?" he said. "Keeping secrets is unhealthy. Isn't that right,  Castiel ?"

"The only secret is why he hasn't killed you yet!" Frank shouted. "Or why we shouldn't do it right now!"

"I wish you'd had that kind of enthusiasm when you were working for me," Crowley said dryly. "Then maybe I wouldn't have let  Castiel take you back. Perhaps I should have just kept your sister, instead."

"What are you even doing here?" Dean asked Crowley angrily. Cas had that murderous look now, and Dean was trying to change the subject.

Crowley sighed. He'd taken his pound of flesh, and he had a mess to deal with here. "Once again, you lot have simply done me a  favour . These were all defectors, as are the groups in the other four cities. I came here to make sure there were no stragglers. Actually, I don't suppose I could hire a few of you to act as a clean-up squad for me? Although I suspect my Brother would gladly do this kind of work for free. He needs an outlet for his temper. Don't you,  Castiel ? And I guess our poor dear Gail is still too injured to help take the edge off, these days."

"You would provide a very good outlet for my anger, seeing as you're the cause of it most of the time," Cas said to Crowley in his quiet voice.

Crowley smiled  humourlessly . "Wait till Lucifer comes," he said to  Castiel . "I'll look like your fondest dream, then."

Lucifer laughed out loud. He did so enjoy the verbal sparring between his Brothers. And Crowley was right; when Lucifer got to the bunker, the King of Hell was going to look like Mother Teresa by comparison.

"What do you mean, you're not God?" Gail said to Bobby, astonished.

"Just what I said," he answered her. "I'm not God any more, Gail. I resigned."

She was stunned. Was he serious? "When?"

"Shortly after the tribunal," he said miserably.

Gail couldn't believe it. "You quit being God after the tribunal," she repeated tonelessly.

"Yeah," Bobby said. He took a deep breath, then let it out. "I was  gonna tell you guys, but there's been one crisis after another, and I didn't know how to say it, anyway."

Her head spun. Which question should she ask first? " So who's God, then?" she said.

"Nobody," he replied. "Everybody."

Now Gail truly understood how frustrated Dean had felt with Cas all those years. "What kind of  b.s. answer is that?" she asked him.

Bobby's beard twitched, and he nodded to her in acknowledgement. "That's what I would have said in your position. And I'm sorry, Gail, but it's the only answer I've got."

Oh, no, he didn't. There was no way. "I think you can do better than that, Bobby," she said, shaking her head. "I think you owe us better than that."

He sighed heavily. "OK, Gail, OK. I'll tell you the truth. I couldn't cut it as God. Everybody thinks they want to be the top dog, until they find out that the buck stops with them, and if people die, it's their fault."

Gail was surprised. "What are you talking about, Bobby? Whose death is your fault?"

"Cas's," he replied. "Cas's death was my fault. I'm awful sorry, Gail."

"How was Cas's death your fault?" she asked him. She was getting alarmed now. Bobby looked like he was on the verge of tears. He may claim he wasn't God, but if Gail saw the man she thought of as being God crying, she was probably going to lose it.

"I let myself get trapped in Lucifer's cage," Bobby said to her, "and then I let Lucifer drive me nuts."

Gail had no idea what to say. But Bobby wasn't finished yet. He had a confession to make, and Gail was as good an audience as any. He should really be saying this to Cas, but she had suffered from Cas's death just as much, if not more.

"And then I showed up at the stupid thing, and I sold Cas down the river," Bobby continued. "I don't care that God Himself told me to do it. I should've told Him to take a flying leap. And then they put Cas to death. Not only that, but  Aurielle used Rowena's spell book to mix up that potion, and if I hadn't kept the damn thing in my desk all those years, she never would have gotten her hands on it.  So everything bad that happened to Cas, and to you, is on me."

Gail thought about that. In a way, it was true. But: "It's on all of us, Bobby," she said quietly. "There's more than enough blame to go around. You, the board, Crowley,  Aurielle , Metatron, take your pick. How about me? How about Cas, himself? We're all to blame for what happened. How about God, for that matter?"

"That's  kinda the point, Gail. I WAS God; I might have been able to do something to prevent that whole thing from happening. Or to fix it, when it did," Bobby said adamantly.

Gail gave him another half-shrug. "Whether or not that's true, why would you just up and quit on us now, Bobby? We need you."

He frowned. "I don't know that you do. I'm not young any more, Gail. I know that sounds ridiculous, seeing as we're all Angels, but it's the way I feel. I thought I could run  Heaven and be a leader that the younger Angels could look up to. But I've screwed everything up so badly now, I think you'd all be better off with someone else."

Gail couldn't help but smile. "Funny, Cas and I were just talking recently about him being a screw-up. And clearly, so am I. So, welcome to the Screw-Up Club. Maybe I should start making badges."

Bobby shook his head. "I know you're trying to make me feel better, Gail. But my mind is made up. I told God I resigned, and I meant it. I'll stay in the office for now, while this crisis is ongoing. But after it's over, we're  gonna have Heaven's first election."

Wow. Gail's head was spinning. Just when she thought that Heaven's politics couldn't get any weirder. Who would she vote for in an election like that? It was too crazy to even contemplate.

"That doesn't answer my question, though," she said to him. "Why haven't you been able to heal us?"

"God stripped me of all but the most basic powers when I resigned," Bobby replied. "Anything extraordinary that I've been able to do, I've done through Him." He frowned. "I guess He took my resignation very seriously. I wish He'd left me with the full spectrum right now, though. It's a bad time for there to be no God, with Lucifer running around free. That's why I haven't been around that much. I've been praying to God, trying to persuade Him to return them, pro  tem . But I haven't gotten an answer. Now I know how Cas must feel all the time."

Gail sighed. Great. Bobby wasn't God. He was only keeping the seat warm for the next God. But how were they supposed to deal with Lucifer now?

Lucifer grinned. That was all he'd needed to hear. There would never be a better time to make his move. Screw Armageddon. It would have to wait. He was going to get what he wanted, and he was going to get it now.

He winked himself to the bunker and stood outside the door for a moment,  savouring the anticipation. He had seen this place so many times in his mind's eye, and now he was finally here. The excitement was building inside of him now.

He moved forward, grasping the door handle. The door was locked, of course, and he could feel the power of the protections coursing through his hand. If Crowley tried this, he would explode. But Lucifer was the Alpha, and he could do anything he wanted, if he wanted it badly enough.

He pushed on the door, and it held fast. Then he shook his head, clearing his mind, and tried again. Still nothing. He smiled grimly. Impressive. This was going to take a lot of juice. But that was okay. Anything that was this difficult would just make the reward all that much sweeter.

Lucifer flexed his arms, keeping his mind clear, and tried again. The resistance started to ease, and the door began to push open. It felt like trying to push a door open underwater, but he kept at it, and eventually, he had it open enough so that he could sidle through.

He stood at the top of the stairs and squared his shoulders, preparing for his grand entrance. He had entered quietly, and he was dressed in all black, standing in the shadows. Gail and Bobby were looking at each other and talking softly. Neither of them looked up.

"Do you think you can keep this just between you and me for now, Gail?" Bobby was saying.

She thought about that. "I guess I can, for the sake of morale," she answered slowly. "But I need to tell Cas. I gave him a big lecture about full disclosure a while back."

Bobby frowned. "I guess I can see your point, Gail. But he's probably the last person who should know about this right now. The army's morale starts from the top down, and he's their leader now."

While Gail was thinking about that, Lucifer saw his opening.

"I wouldn't worry about that," he said, slowly descending the stairs. "He's going to have much bigger things on his mind shortly."

Gail looked up in surprise. Who was this man, and how did he get in here? Was he a friend of Sam and Dean's she hadn't met yet? Or a family member, maybe? He had to be someone close to them, to have a key to this place. The only other person Gail knew of who had a key to the bunker was Frank. Jody didn't even have one.

Bobby rose from his chair and looked at the man. He had no idea who this was, and the alarm bells were going off. Along with Cas, Bobby was the one who knew the Winchesters the best, and he had known them the longest. If this guy had a key, Bobby would know who he was. But he didn't.

"Who are you?" Bobby barked at the man.

"Me?" Lucifer said, smiling. "I'm both a new acquaintance, and a very, very old friend. How are you, Bobby? Suffering from a little bit of diminished capacity, from what I hear. Too bad there's not a little blue pill for that, as well."

Oh, crap, Gail thought. She had a feeling that she knew exactly who this was now.

"How are you, my dear?" Lucifer asked her. "I was extremely sorry to hear about your little incident. Maybe they should feed those cats in the Garden more. I know that Crowley wanted to rip a piece off you, but this is something different, entirely." He laughed. "Please forgive my crude  humour . I haven't been around many females. A sad fact I plan to rectify, very soon." He gave her a small bow.

"Lucifer," she gasped.

Bobby raised his arm, but he only had ordinary powers now, so all Lucifer had to do was wave a finger, and Bobby was slammed back into his chair and immobilized.

"Now, we'll have none of that, Bobby," Lucifer admonished him, still smiling. "I just came here for some civilized conversation." He turned to Gail. "I wouldn't try it either, if I were you. Of course, I wouldn't have to immobilize you, would I? A big old cat's already done that for me. It's really too bad, though. I was hoping to take you when you were able-bodied. You still owe me one, from the cage," he told her.

"CAS!" she thought immediately, and loudly. She looked at Lucifer, wide-eyed, as he waved his hand over his own face to reveal his true appearance. Then he put his hand on Bobby's forehead, modifying his memory. He couldn't know what Reverend Devlin looked like. That would ruin all the fun.

"When you call him, tell him to come alone," Lucifer said. He was no fool; he knew that she would be calling for her Loverboy to come and save her. "If he brings anyone else, I'll kill them immediately."

Gail called Cas again, giving him that message. As much as she hated to expose him to this kind of danger, Gail felt like she had no choice. Bobby wasn't God, she was nearly an invalid, and Felicia and Robbie were still elsewhere in the bunker. If Crowley could have gotten in here, she would have called on him, instead. But he could only get in if he was invited by a resident, and neither Sam nor Dean were here.  Castiel was their best chance. But she had been hoping he would be able to bring the whole team. Maybe they all could have banded together to overpower Lucifer. But Lucifer had said he would kill anyone who accompanied Cas, and Gail believed him.

Suddenly, Felicia came out of the hallway, and she had her arms raised. She thrust them towards Lucifer, taking him by surprise. He staggered back a few steps as her salvo hit him. But he regrouped, then lifted his own arm, and knocked her into the wall, hard enough to leave a dent. She slid down to the floor, semi-conscious.

"Too bad you didn't show that kind of backbone when you were with Mark," Lucifer said to Felicia. "Maybe he could have brought you with him to my camp."

"Never," Felicia breathed.

Lucifer looked around. "Where's the brat?" he snarled. "I doubt Mark misses him very much. Kids are the world's biggest pain in the ass. Thank God for birth control."

Felicia said nothing, just glared at him. There was no way he was getting his  hands on Robbie. He would have to kill her, first.

"What's taking  Castiel so long?" Lucifer said casually. "I'm eager to get this party started." He walked around the table to where Gail sat in her wheelchair and stood behind her. Then she felt his hand on her cheek, and she jerked her head away. Bobby was fuming. If he could move, he wouldn't give a damn about Godly powers. He would just punch Lucifer again and again, until he was a bloody mess. If he was going to die, at least he could go down swinging. But what were they  gonna do now?

Crowley was still talking when Gail's first call came through. Cas felt a bolt of pain shoot through his head. The call had been loud, as it had been when she was being attacked by those men in Las Vegas. Why would she be calling him like that from the bunker?

He would have to go, of course. They were done here, so he would get everyone to come to the bunker with him. He knew she would love to see them all. Actually, if she was up to it, she could clean all of their clothing. They would need to make their report to Bobby, anyway.

But now she was sending him another, longer message, and Crowley was still droning on.

"Be quiet," he snapped at Crowley.

"What's the matter,  Castiel ?" Crowley said, bemused. "Did all that killing give you a headache?"

Cas had his hand to his head, trying to make out what Gail was saying. "Shut your mouth, or I'll shut it for you," he said to Crowley angrily.

"Pick me, pick me!" Frank quipped, raising his hand with the knife in it.

"All of you, just shut up!" Cas barked, and they fell silent.

Gail was telling him he needed to come to the bunker right away, but he needed to come alone. Swear on their relationship that he would come alone.

Cas was alarmed. What was the matter with her? But he'd better do it. He thought for a moment, then called Becky over to him.

"Take everyone back to our suite," he instructed her. "There'll be room there for all of them. I have to go somewhere. I'll be back as soon as I can. Okay?"

"Sure, Cas," she said. Then she looked nervously at Crowley. "What about him?"

"What ABOUT him?"  Castiel said irritably. He actually did have a bit of a headache, now. Gail's messages had been both loud and very distinct, and the signal between them was very strong. "Let him stay and clear away his dead."

Then  Castiel winked himself away to the bunker.

Lucifer had wheeled Gail away from the table, and he was still standing behind her when  Castiel appeared before them. Lucifer had known he would be there any moment, so Lucifer was letting his hand wander now, touching Gail's neck, then her shoulder. She had tried to get out of the wheelchair, but he had obviously immobilized her body for the moment, wanting to frame the perfect picture for  Castiel . When  Castiel appeared, Lucifer slowly started sliding his hand down. Gail was trying to twist her head around. The rest of her wouldn't move, but she was going to bite him, if she could. Anything, to get that hand off her.

Cas had his blade drawn, and as Lucifer reached the top of Gail's breast, Cas growled, "You will lose that hand."

Lucifer laughed, but he moved his hand away. "Good,  Castiel ," he said happily. "Who writes your dialogue? Just a tad melodramatic, maybe. But, very macho."

"I'm not joking," Cas said, moving forward. Lucifer still had his hand on her shoulder, and Cas could see Gail's look of fear and disgust.

"Nor am I," Lucifer said, smiling. "You're sexy when you're defending your woman, did you know that?"

"Thank God you're here," Gail quipped nervously. "I'd forgotten how much he likes to hear himself talk. He's worse than Crowley." Lucifer's hand clamped down on her shoulder painfully for a moment, and Gail winced.

Cas was around the table now, proceeding steadily but warily. Lucifer was letting him come, but Cas still needed to be very cautious. Lucifer didn't have a weapon in his hands, but he was way too close to Gail.

"Put that blade away,  Castiel ," Lucifer said. "I'm just here to talk to you and Gail, that's all."

"Talk? What about?" Cas asked him, still approaching them slowly.

"Put the blade away, and I'll tell you," Lucifer said calmly.

"I don't think so," Cas retorted.

"Fine, then." Lucifer sighed. "Why must everything with you always be the hard way?" He waved his hand, and the blade flew out of  Castiel's hand and across the room, landing with a clatter by the bookshelves.

Lucifer waved his hand again and a chair slid out from the table and landed beside Gail's wheelchair. "Have a seat,  Castiel . Take your darling's hand. I'm sure she could use the comfort right now."

"Why would I? I'm not afraid of you," Gail said boldly.

Lucifer smiled. "No? I know you were quite the accomplished liar when you were a Demon, but I didn't know that skill would carry over."

Felicia's eyes widened. What? What had Lucifer meant by that?

Meanwhile, Robbie was creeping down the hallway and he hid in the shadows, peering out at the scene. He was smart enough to know that the man in black was very bad. He could see his mother on the floor, but she seemed to be all right, even though she wasn't moving. Neither was Grandpa God. But Uncle Cas was moving towards the man, and even though he didn't have a weapon, Robbie was sure that he would be able to take care of the bad man. He'd better hide here till that happened.

Lucifer waved his hand again, and now Gail and Felicia were able to move. "Have a seat beside Bobby, my dear," Lucifer said to Felicia. "This might take a few minutes, and I want you to be comfortable." Felicia rose slowly and went over to where Bobby was, sitting obediently beside him.

Gail thought about bolting out of the wheelchair, but really, where was she going to go? As long as Lucifer didn't touch her inappropriately again, she might as well just stay seated. She didn't want to get in the way when Cas made his move against Lucifer.

But Lucifer was no fool. He stayed behind Gail, using her as a shield in case  Castiel decided to try something stupid. And, he really did want to talk to them.

Cas was eyeing Lucifer warily, but he took the seat that had been offered to him. Until he could figure out a way to subdue Lucifer without anyone here getting hurt, especially Gail, he would have to proceed cautiously.

"There," Lucifer said to  Castiel , as he sat down. "All very civilized. Now: I have a proposal to make to you,  Castiel ."

Cas laughed derisively. "Really? What makes you think I would want to listen to anything you have to say?"

Lucifer was opening his mouth to answer when Robbie came running out of the hallway. He was just a child, and he was scared. He wanted his mother. He ran towards the table as Lucifer said, "Stop!"

Robbie halted immediately, subconsciously responding to an adult male voice of authority. His father had spoken to him like that many times when he had gotten a little rambunctious.

"Leave him alone!" Felicia yelled at Lucifer. He waved his hand in her direction, and she went flying off her chair.

"You're not ever supposed to hurt a lady!" Robbie exclaimed, and he came running towards Lucifer with his little fists in the air. He was going to teach this bad guy a lesson, just like his  favourite superheroes would do.

Oh, this was going to be bad. Without waiting for what Lucifer's reaction might be, Gail launched herself out of her wheelchair and grabbed Robbie, shielding him with her body. If Lucifer was going to blast the boy, he'd have to do it through her. Robbie buried his head against her stomach, and Gail screamed from the pain. But she couldn't let go of him, just in case.

"It's all right, Gail, you can sit down," Lucifer said. He sounded amused. "I actually admire the little guy for his principles. Maybe Uncle Cas can sit him down and have a chat with him about how bad it is to hurt a lady." He looked at  Castiel . "Or, how good, sometimes," he added softly, smirking.

Cas leaped out of his chair, but Lucifer held out both of his arms and pointed them towards Gail. "I wouldn't, if I were you," he cautioned Cas. "Isn't she in enough pain?"

And it was true. The effort from her jump had caused her stomach to bleed again. The doctor had warned her that the tissue there was paper-thin right now. That was why she was waiting for a skin graft operation, and why it hurt so much for her to move all the time.

Robbie was starting to snivel now, and Lucifer knew he was going to start bawling any minute. If there was anything Lucifer hated more than a whining, crying little brat, he honestly didn't know what it would be. He would rather kiss Crowley full on the mouth for three  Mississippi's than have to listen to that. "Control your kid," he snarled, jerking his head at Felicia. He still kept his hands aimed at Gail, though.  Castiel had stopped moving for the moment, but Lucifer could see him out of the corner of his eye, and he knew he was straining at the leash.

Felicia rose from her chair and went to her son, taking him from Gail's arms.

"In fact, why don't you take him back to his room, and the two of you can stay there until my business is concluded here," Lucifer said to Felicia. She glanced at Gail, conveying her thanks with her eyes, and carried Robbie down the hall. Gail heard the bedroom door close.

Lucifer strode up to Gail and grabbed her around the waist from behind. She screamed in pain once more, and Cas was on the move again. He'd almost made it to where they were, and he was just about to throttle his Brother with his bare hands when Lucifer took one hand off of Gail and used his powers to fling  Castiel backwards. The Angel went slamming into the bookshelves, books flying everywhere.

Bobby was struggling mightily, but he couldn't move a muscle. He felt like he was going to be sick. This had been his worst screw-up ever. Cas was an amateur, compared to Bobby. Now Bobby had no Godly powers, Lucifer was manhandling Gail, and Cas was trying his best, but Lucifer was calling the shots right now, and there wasn't a damn thing Bobby could do about it.

Lucifer held out his arm, keeping Cas on the floor, and he dragged Gail over to where Bobby sat. She was crying from the pain now, and she was far too weak to break Lucifer's hold on her. The blood had soaked through her clothes now, and she felt like she was going to pass out any minute.

"'Later, Bobby," Lucifer said to him. He used the hand he'd been using to hold  Castiel in place to push Bobby out of the bunker and back to Heaven.

Now it was just the three of them. Lucifer picked Gail up in his arms and eased her down into the chair that Bobby had just been sitting in. As  Castiel got up off the floor, Lucifer looked at Gail, putting his hand on her stomach.

"Does it hurt a lot?" he said to her in a tone of mock sympathy.

"No, it's just fine," she said sarcastically, trying to blink away the tears.

"I can make it better, you know," Lucifer told her softly. Then he looked up at  Castiel , who was advancing cautiously again. "Or, I can make it much, much worse," he said sharply, looking at  Castiel . "Have a seat, Cas, and try to stay in it for two seconds," Lucifer said dryly. "We still have to have our little chat. And with poor Gail looking as bad as she does, maybe we'd better make it quick. Actually, the timing couldn't be better, though. I think you'll be a lot more receptive to what I have to say now." He took a couple of steps away from Gail, leaning against the table. He gestured to  Castiel . "Go to her,  Castiel . Can't you see she needs you?"

Cas went to Gail and took her hand, anguished. She was squeezing his hand very hard, grimacing in pain. He knelt down beside her and put his hand gently on her stomach. He was able to heal her enough to stop the bleeding, but the tears were still flowing silently from her eyes.

"And now, my proposal," Lucifer said. "I can heal her,  Castiel . Healthy and whole, one hundred percent, completely back to normal."

Cas drew up a chair beside Gail and sat in it, still holding her hand. "And what would you want in return?" he asked Lucifer skeptically.

"Nothing," Lucifer said simply.

"Yeah, right," Gail scoffed. Her voice was weak, but her tone was strong.

"You wound me, Gail," Lucifer said, pretending to be offended. "Can't one Original just help out another, out of the goodness of his own heart?"

"Your heart?" Cas scoffed. "Yes, I'm sure there's a lot of goodness in there."

"Hey, if you could be dark, why can't I be light, sometimes?" Lucifer said, smiling. "I am the Angel of Light, after all."

"Maybe you were an Angel, once,"  Castiel retorted. "But now, you are nothing but an abomination."

"Says the guy who took a blade to his girlfriend," Lucifer shot back. "It takes one to know one."

Castiel's blood boiled, but what Lucifer said had hurt him a great deal, because Lucifer was absolutely right.

"You'd give anything to take all of that back, wouldn't you, Cas?" Lucifer said softly.

"Don't," Gail said sharply. "We're not doing any deals with you today. Get thee behind  us and get the hell away from him. You're not going to play with us like we're your little toys."

Oh, no? Lucifer thought. We'll see about that. "I can make it all go away, Cas," he said, looking directly into his Brother's eyes. "I can restore Gail, and I can also remove that whole ugly episode from your lives. Nothing will have ever happened to Gail. She'll be healthy and happy, and she will love and respect you beyond measure. A  brand new start, right from Square One. What do you say?"

"And you would want nothing in return," Cas said sardonically.

"Well, you'd have to bow down and kiss my feet, of course," Lucifer said. Then he laughed. " Naah , only screwing with you. No, I don't want anything. I swear. I just want to see you two crazy kids back together again, that's all. Yours is a love story for the ages. I'm pulling for you,  Castiel . You're the only one of us who has the chance to get it right. Let me do this for the two of you."

"Don't do it, Cas," Gail said weakly. Her head was swimming again. Although he had stopped the bleeding, her top was soaked and the pain was nearly unbearable now. "There'll be strings. You know there will."

" So you're OK with things the way they are now?" Lucifer asked her with a strange half-smile on his face.

"Beats the alternative," she said bravely.

"Oh. Well, in that case..." he moved his arm towards her, and her stomach started to bleed copiously. She screamed from the pain. "There," Lucifer said slyly. "I didn't realize you enjoyed blood and pain that much. Outside of the bedroom, that is." He raised his arm. "Would you like some more, then?"

"Stop!" Cas shouted. He couldn't take any more of this. "Heal her. Please."

" So you'll take my proposal?" Lucifer asked him. He had to get the agreement first; that was how these things worked.

"And you would require nothing in return?" Cas asked him again.

"Nothing," Lucifer confirmed, nodding his head vigorously. "I promise."

Gail's eyes were closed now, and her face was white. She'd wait for Cas to tell Lucifer where to stuff it, and then she would have to give in to the unconsciousness that she felt coming on.

Cas was looking at Lucifer. Promises aside, there was no way he could agree to any kind of proposal with the Devil himself. Did Lucifer think he was stupid? He could promise all he wanted; there would be strings.  Of course there would. And Cas had screwed up very badly when he had agreed to let Crowley's Demon essence remain inside of him. If he hadn't learned his lesson from agreeing to a proposal from the King of Hell, Cas pretty much deserved what he got.

But then he looked at Gail. She was in so much pain. The blood was pooling in her lap now, and even if he reached out and healed the bleeding again, he knew that the pain would continue. He had gone on the laptop and researched skin graft operations. They were delicate procedures, which had to be done in stages, and the process could take months, even a couple of years. And she would be in this type of pain the whole time.

That alone would probably have been enough to sway him. But if Lucifer could truly negate the entire Demon episode, excise it from their lives as one would a  tumour ? How could he not consider that? None of that should ever have happened. Didn't she deserve a fresh start? No matter what she said, Cas knew that nothing would ever quite be the same between them because of it. Not to mention the benefit of not having to hide it from anyone any more. If it had never happened, there would not be anything for him to feel guilty about in that regard. But this couldn't be about him, as it had been when God had stepped in and offered to wipe Gail's mind. That had been for  Castiel's benefit. He had been selfish then, and that was why it hadn't worked. His Father had been trying to teach him a lesson. This time, it was all about her. He loved her so much that he was willing to shake hands with the Devil.

"I accept your proposal," Cas said to Lucifer. "You will restore Gail to full health, and she will have a fresh start."

Lucifer smiled. "Yes. Full health, and she will have a fresh start." He was so glad  Castiel had put it that way. Now Lucifer wouldn't even be lying. He extended his hand for Cas to shake.

Gail's eyes flew open. She saw the two men shaking hands, and the blue and green essences which emanated from their hands as they made the agreement produced a  colour sort of like her own golden glow, but more yellow in hue. The  colour made her feel sick. "No," she murmured. But it was too late.

Lucifer knelt down in front of her. "This'll only take a minute," he said softly. He put his hand on her arm first, and the cast came off. The bone had healed instantly when he'd touched her. She flexed her arm experimentally, then moved it back and forth. It was completely back to normal.

Then he put both of his hands on her stomach, and the bleeding stopped immediately. Lucifer looked up at  Castiel . "Don't get jealous, now," he said, smiling. He slipped his hands under Gail's top, and she was in so much pain that she made no move to stop him. Neither did  Castiel .

Lucifer touched her bare stomach with both of his hands, and the green glow shone underneath her top as he healed her. Her skin was so soft here, he thought, as he restored it. He couldn't wait to find out what it felt like in some of her other areas. In fact, he'd better conclude now, before he started getting turned on. It wouldn't take much. The two of them had no idea what  Castiel had just agreed to. Gail would be Lucifer's soon, to do with whatever he wanted.  Castiel had just handed her over, without even knowing it.

After a couple of minutes, she was completely healed. Then Lucifer motioned to  Castiel to sit beside Gail again. Cas had risen when Lucifer had knelt in front of her, just in case. But Lucifer had seemingly delivered on his promise, and Gail's  colour was back now.

Lucifer rocked back on his heels. "Take a look,  Castiel . Make sure that I have lived up to my promise. I don't want there to be any doubt."

Cas took Gail's arm and felt it. She bent it up and down for him. Then he lifted her top and looked at her stomach. "Can you clean the blood, please?" he asked her. There was so much, on her skin and on her clothes, and he wanted to have a really good look.

Gail waved one hand over herself, and the blood disappeared from her clothes and from her skin. Lucifer whistled. That was pretty impressive, and he saw that her essence was a dazzling golden  colour . He wondered if he could put her powers to use, in the future. It was too bad he didn't know what other powers she possessed. He'd like to find out now, but he'd better wrap this up, before either of them decided to get frisky with him again.

But as  Castiel touched her clean, white stomach and the smile began to form on his Brother's face, Lucifer did feel just a crumb of compassion for the couple. He remembered that he'd kind of promised himself to give  Castiel one more idyllic day with her before Lucifer took her over. Besides, it would hurt  Castiel more that way.

"How do you feel?" Cas was asking Gail softly.

"I feel fine," Gail answered him. She was stunned.

"OK, kids, I have to go now," Lucifer told them. "Time for Part 2 of our deal." He rose and looked down at the couple. "It never happened." He waved his hands in the air as if conducting a symphony orchestra, producing as much green glow as he could. Then he gently blew on the cloud of green essence, and it whirled all through the bunker. Then it passed through Cas, then Gail, and then it dissipated. "There. Done," Lucifer said, smiling.

"That's it?" Cas said, astounded.

"That's it," Lucifer agreed.

"But I don't feel any different, and I still remember everything," Cas protested. He looked to Gail for confirmation.

"Come on,  Castiel . You know how these things work. As of sunrise, there will have been no Demon incident between you. As of sunrise, Gail will be restored. Then you can begin again,  Castiel . Or, you guys can break up, I don't care."  Castiel looked at him sharply, but Lucifer shrugged. "Hey, I am the Devil. It goes against my nature to root for Angels," he said, smiling again.

Gail didn't know what to think now. She was extremely happy to be healthy and pain-free again, and she had to admit that if what Lucifer was saying was really true, if the whole Demon thing would be erased come sunrise, she would be very happy about that, too. But she had a hard time believing it, and an even harder time believing there were no strings attached to what Lucifer had just done. That glow that had emanated from Cas's and Lucifer's hands when they had shaken them concerned her greatly. That signified some kind of magic to her, and their combined  colours suggested some sort of covenant. But, what could it be? Cas hadn't agreed to anything except that which had supposedly happened, and Lucifer had stated that he wanted nothing in return before they had shaken hands. If he was lying, did the fact that they had sealed the agreement that way mean that Lucifer was out of luck if he asked them for something in return now, or in the future?

"I'll tell you what, though," Lucifer said to them. "I know things have been tough for you both.  So I'm going to throw in a bonus. As Originals, we're all family, in a manner of speaking. So, my Brother and Sister, I'm going to give you the perfect day together. Tomorrow, at sunrise, the Demon incident will have never happened, Gail will be feeling terrific,  Castiel will be happy and guilt-free, and you two will be madly in love again. You will experience all the joys and pleasures that life has to offer, together. Consider it a gift, from me to you. A one-day honeymoon, as it were." He looked at  Castiel . "Then you can feel free to continue pursuing me. Hey, you may even find me, you never know."

Before they could react, he put his hands on their foreheads and gave them the push. But he gave Gail that little extra, before he sent them both out of the bunker.

Once they were gone, Lucifer stood there for a moment. That had actually gone very smoothly. He congratulated himself on a job well done.  Castiel's guilty conscience and love for Gail had been his downfall. And yes, his Brother was still selfish, wasn't he? But it did seem like he was a little less so these days, though. Perhaps the separation from Gail really had done him some good. If that was the case, he should be ready for canonization by the time Lucifer got through with him. But it was a good thing that  Castiel had no idea who and what Reverend Gordon Devlin really was. Lucifer had the feeling that  Castiel wouldn't be nearly as docile the next time he saw him. And they would see each other again, when Lucifer was ready for that to occur.

Cas and Gail woke up just after sunrise. One of them had left the drapes partway open, and the sun was streaming into the room. Though it wasn't shining directly on the bed, the light had been enough to wake them.

She was laying with her back to him. He had been spooning her as they slept, and the instant he woke up, he began gently caressing her skin. He still couldn't get over how soft her skin was. When they had made love last night for the first time, he had  marveled at that fact. She was beautiful, from head to toe. He had always thought so, but last night had been the first time he'd gotten to find out, first-hand, about the rest of her.

They were back in Las Vegas, and the reset of their relationship had begun at that point. There had been no tribunal, no cabin, and no Demon incident. No blood and no pain, just love. They were Angels, though they could sleep and eat and drink if they chose, just for this weekend. And even though they both loved Sam and Dean dearly, it was just the two of them here. An idyllic weekend of romance, made to order.

Gail smiled. She loved it when Cas caressed her. She loved everything he did. "Good morning," she said softly, but she didn't move. She was enjoying what he was doing too much to interrupt him.

"Good morning," he responded. His hand had still been lightly caressing her hip and her side, but now that he knew for sure that she was fully awake, Cas's touch became firmer. He knew how much she liked to sleep when she was able, and because they were Angels, it was a real rarity for her now. But he didn't want to waste the day sleeping, either. They were hardly ever alone together, not like this, and he wanted her all to himself today. He didn't care what she wanted to do, as long as they did it together.

Okay, that may not be entirely true. There were a couple of things he wanted to do right now, before they got dressed and went down to breakfast, and he had to share her with the rest of the world.

Cas kissed her shoulder and then her neck, and his hand had reached her breasts now. He caressed them for a bit, then his hand moved down to her leg. He leaned up on one elbow so that he could look at her face. She was smiling, but her eyes were closed.

"Should I stop?" he asked her. "Do you want a bit more sleep?"

"No, and no," she answered. "I just don't want to move, for a minute."

"Okay," he said agreeably. His hand went between her legs and then she did move, granting him access. His fingers spread her and he began to stroke her lazily, and then he resumed kissing her neck. Then he licked her ear, and she made a sound of contentment. He kissed her cheek, licked her there too, and pressed his body against hers. She felt him there, and she lifted her leg to admit him. Cas slipped into her, continuing to stroke her, and she made another sound. "I love you," he murmured into her ear. "Is  this all right?"

"It's more than all right," she told him. "Faster, Cas, please."

He had no problem doing that. She felt so good. He pushed forward into her, faster, as she had requested, then faster still. His fingers sped up too, and she started to moan. He licked her ear again, and she said, "Oh, I like that, Cas," so he did it again. She was moving now, opening her legs even more, making it easier for him to move in and out of her.

"That feels so good, Cas," she told him softly.

"What does?" he said into her ear. He nuzzled her cheek gently. He really did want to know. The more she told him what she liked, the better he could become.

"Everything. All of it. I love you so much, Cas," she replied, then she whimpered.

That did it for him. As soon as she said that, he was gone. He pushed forward one more time, and the warmth spread through his entire body as he moaned into her neck.

He laid there for a moment, catching his breath. But he hadn't heard her cry out yet, as she had last night.  So he withdrew from her, and she rolled over to face him. He put his arms around her and kissed her with his tongue.

"Did you...?" he said. He was still too shy to say it. But he thought he already knew.

"No," she said, but she was smiling. "Not yet, anyway."

Right. He was glad, in a way. That meant that he could continue. He hadn't had enough of touching her yet. Cas kissed her again, and then she opened her mouth to him and gave him her tongue. He loved it when she did that. He had never experienced kissing like this before, but, like everything else they had done, it was so wonderful with her. So loving, and so intimate.

He broke the kiss and moved slowly down her body, kissing and licking her breasts, and nuzzling her stomach. Then he gently opened her legs and trailed his tongue up and down her thighs until he got to her intimate area. He had done this tentatively last night, and she had seemed to like it very much.  So he began to lick her there, and she reacted immediately. "Cas," she breathed.

"Is that good?" he asked her, looking up at her face.

"It's so good," she told him, so he continued to use his tongue on her, caressing her legs and hips as he did so. She started making the sounds he'd heard last night, so Cas started going faster, and Gail began to cry out. She said his name, then said how good it was, and then there were no words, just sounds. He figured that was probably a good sign; he hadn't been able to speak when the wave of pleasure had washed over him, either. She calmed down in a minute, so he stopped what he was doing and laid on top of her, kissing her on the mouth again. Her limbs were wrapped around him now, and he was starting to get excited again. He loved it when they were entwined like this. It was hard to tell where he started, and she ended. Or was it the other way around? He had always heard about the special bond between lovers, and he knew that married people were supposed to be two halves of one whole person, but he'd never quite believed it before. His existence since Creation had been mostly solitary, and  Castiel had come to believe that all of those classic love stories were greatly exaggerated. He had received admiring looks from females before, and even from a few males, but he had never felt anything in return. His life had been empty and hollow, and he had spent much of it engaged in intellectual pursuits. Love, if it existed at all, wasn't for him, he guessed. Apparently, his Father hadn't seen fit to bless him with a mate. He would just have to accept that.

But then he had met the Winchesters, and  Castiel realized that all of the things he had been feeling all of this time were normal, at least by human standards. Loneliness, longing, a desire to be loved and feel special in someone's eyes. Apparently, every human felt this way. And then Sam and Dean had eventually accepted him, quirks and all, and he had finally felt a sense of belonging. He had felt special to them, and he had felt loved. And the more time he'd spent on Earth, the more that  Castiel came to believe that true love did exist. Or at least, that the potential was there. He had gravitated towards Earth and his human friends, because their emotions and passions had spoken to him. He felt a lot of the things that they felt, and he had finally admitted to himself that he wanted to love one special person, and to have that one special person love him, in every sense of the word.

Then Dean had called him that night, seeking his help, and even though he had been fading at the time, he couldn't say no. If his stolen Grace ran out and he were to die, at least he would die in the company of the only true friends he had ever had. But when he had stumbled half-dead into the bunker that night, there had been a woman there who had looked at him with sympathy in her warm brown eyes, and that first look had changed everything for him.

And now here they were, two years later, and  Castiel had finally experienced what he had only read and heard about. He and Gail had been together almost constantly from the day they had met, but he had been afraid to even suggest anything like what they were doing now for fear it would sully their relationship. He may have been around since Creation, but  Castiel had no idea how these things were supposed to work. He'd seen Dean bed women in the past, and Sam too. But they were no longer in touch with these women, and except for a couple of isolated incidents, which had not ended well, they had seemed all right with that. But  Castiel would not be. He couldn't imagine being so intimate with a woman and then just leaving her alone. If you loved somebody, you wanted to be with them all the time, didn't you? That was why he had never been able to stay away from Sam and Dean for very long. Even when his presence had been required in Heaven, he had always seemed to find an excuse to go to Earth and check in with them, and he had almost always come when they had prayed to him. And it had been the same with Gail. She had reached out to him first by offering him that cup to drink. After that, he had told himself that he needed to repay her kindness to him by helping her to find her brother, and then to rescue her from Crowley. But that one first  look and that act of kindness from her had been enough, and he'd finally had to admit to Dean, when she had been kidnapped by Crowley, that he loved her.

Then she had died, and she had elected to become an Angel, and  Castiel had been so happy when that was what she had chosen. They had been constant companions from then on, even living in the same apartment together, and he had then begun to take her hand or kiss her chastely from time to time. But that was as far as he felt he could  go or should go. They were happy being together. She was an easy companion, showing him both the human and the Angelic traits within herself. He could relate to that, because he was the same way. They were almost mirror images of each other, or that was how he had felt, anyway. She was a human who was learning to become an Angel, and he was an Angel who had been learning how to become human. But they were quite different in some other ways. He'd always been quick to anger, and his temper had long been a problem for him. He often used anger to mask his true feelings, while she used  humour . The more upset or scared she was, the more she seemed to wisecrack. That was how Gail dealt with her unexpressed feelings. But they had been able to put those masks aside with each other, and they had spent many nights talking all night about a myriad of subjects while their human friends had been asleep.

So when it got to the point where Cas had started to entertain the idea of trying to be physically intimate with her, the two Angels knew  each others' personalities very well. But Cas still had no idea how she felt about that particular subject, and he couldn't think of how to bring it up. And the Winchesters hadn't been very helpful. They had thought it amusing that he had never had that experience, and his embarrassment and reticence had further inflamed them. He had ended up getting angry with them both, until they had realized that he was serious, and so were his feelings for Gail. By that time, Sam and Dean loved Gail too, having accepted her into their family like a sister, and they had apologized to Cas. They had treated him like a brother, and they had also given him their respect and treated him like a man, and he did not take this lightly. Sam and especially Dean had paid him the highest compliment they could pay, by teasing him to the point of torment and then being genuinely sorry when he had admonished them. They had told him, quite sincerely, that they were happy for him, and they were pretty sure that Gail felt the same way about him that he felt about her. They had encouraged him to take her away somewhere for the weekend, like a holiday. Just the two of them. Disconnect Angel  Radio and take her somewhere fun and romantic. Be very  attentive and see what happened. She would send him signals if she wanted that type of relationship. What kind of signals? he had wanted to know. They had smiled at each other and at  him and told him that the signals would probably be evident, even to him. But he's better book two rooms that first night, just in case he did something really stupid and she kicked him out, Dean had teased. Cas had been alarmed at that thought. There were so many stupid things that he might do: could Dean narrow that down a bit? The brothers had laughed at  that and had told him he'd do just fine.

So he and Gail had gone to Las Vegas, of all places, because the Winchesters had suggested that it was a place where couples could feel relaxed and enjoy themselves. And Bobby had given them the gifts of sleep and an appetite for food and drink before they had left.

Cas had been nervous when they arrived, but his nerves had soon been supplanted by all the wondrous sights there. They could have just popped over, but they had flown in an airplane, wanting to experience that form of travel. That had been a first for both of them, too, and it had been amazing. Then they had arrived in Las Vegas, and when they'd gotten up to the room, they had spent a while just staring out the full-length window at all those lights. He had only booked them the one room, but it had two beds, of course. Cas was pretty sure that Dean had only been teasing, but if he did do something really stupid and Gail wanted him out of the room, Cas could probably just sleep outside, somewhere. The weather was pretty warm here, and there were some benches downstairs in the fountain area. But Cas was fairly certain it wouldn't come to that. He and Gail were very close now, and she didn't get angry with him all that often. If she thought he was out of line, she would just tell him so, and he would amend his  behaviour accordingly. When you really loved a woman, that was the way it was supposed to work.

So they had gone down to the bar to have a drink that first night, and then they'd had another. Gail had also seemed a little nervous to Cas, for some reason. Why would she be nervous? It was Cas who should be nervous. She was the one who would determine if there was going to be any escalation of their relationship, not him. That was also the way these things worked.

They went to a restaurant and had a nice dinner, and a long conversation. They talked about current events, books they'd read, Sam and Dean, all kinds of things. Light, easy conversation. They had a couple of glasses of wine and a cup of coffee at the end of the meal. She had a shot of alcohol with her coffee, but he did not. Dean had cautioned him not to overindulge. Apparently, the woman could have a few drinks, but if the man had the same amount, it could impede his progress. Curious. Cas would have thought that more alcohol would calm the man down in that type of situation. Maybe it would have calmed him down, anyway. As they neared the end of the meal, he was starting to get nervous again. Gail was beautiful to him in any context, but she was especially beautiful in the candlelight. When they got married, he might suggest that it should be a candlelit service. And she was wearing a lovely blue dress. She rarely wore dresses, preferring the practicality of pants, so it had been a real treat for him to see her in one. When she had emerged from the washroom after her shower wearing it, he had been effusive in his compliments. It was lucky that he had brought his suit, then. The Winchesters and Bobby had counselled him to do so, in case she felt like "getting gussied up", as Bobby had called it.  So he had gone into the shower then, and when he had come out dressed in the suit, her eyes had lit up, and she had told him he looked amazing. No one had ever called him amazing before. He had smiled, and then he had taken her hand and they had gone downstairs.

Now dinner was over, and they agreed they'd like to walk for a while, to enjoy some fresh air and look at the lights on the Strip.  So they had done that, and then, by mutual agreement, they had gone back to the hotel and gone up to their room.

Cas wished he'd had more alcohol, despite what his friends had said. He knew he was expected to take the lead, but he wasn't sure how to go about it, exactly. But Gail took him by the hand and led him to the couch in their room, and she poured them both a drink. He gulped half the glass's contents, then put it down, looking at her.

"I love you," he told her. "I'm sure you know that by now. But what I want to tell you is that I love you so much that I never want to spend another second of my existence apart from you." Then Cas stopped himself. Dean had advised him not to overdo it. If he poured out his feelings to her up front, she might feel "weirded out", as Dean had called it. Cas didn't see why. Either she loved him, or she didn't. And what was wrong with telling her everything he truly felt? Wasn't that what true intimacy  was all about?

Gail had smiled. "I'm glad to hear you say that," she said. "I thought that Dean might have advised you not to say that. Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free, right? Well, all I can say is 'moo'."

Now Cas was extremely puzzled. He thought that he and Gail communicated very well most of the time, but why was she talking about farm animals now?

Gail could see the confusion on his face, and she took his hands in hers. "I'm sorry, Cas. You know how I am. I joke when I'm nervous."

"You're nervous?" he blurted out. "What do you have to be nervous about?"

She lifted an eyebrow to him, but he still didn't seem to be getting it. Gail sighed. "I'm nervous for the same reason you are, Cas. I'm nervous because I'm afraid that you're too nervous to kiss me the way that I want you to."

He had been about to ask her what she meant by that, but then Cas realized that he knew. This was the signal that Sam and Dean had been talking about. He was sure of it.  So he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips, and then she was kissing him back. He put his arms around her, and she put hers around him, and their mouths opened to one another's, and his tongue poked through her lips. Her mouth opened further, and he grew bolder, tightening his grip on her. His tongue found hers, and she responded to his kiss by making her tongue dance with his. She touched his face with both hands, and he broke the kiss, thinking maybe he had been too bold.

"I love you, Cas," Gail told him. "Please don't be shy. I want us to be able to express our love for each other. It's only you and me here. Please, show me how you feel."

He was so happy she was saying that, and it gave him the confidence he'd needed. He kissed her with his tongue again, and she responded immediately. Then he plunged his hands into her hair, still kissing her. She was caressing his back through his shirt, and he tentatively touched her breasts through her dress.

"Please take me over to the bed, Cas," she said to him.

"Are you sure, Gail?" he said, looking into her eyes. "I need you to be sure."

"I love you, Cas," she said again, touching his face once more. "I need you."

He kissed her again, then he stood and took her hand. She stood with him and he led her over to the bed.

He put his arms around her and then he reached up, undoing the zipper on the back of her dress with trembling hands. The dress slid off her shoulders, and she stepped out of it.

Cas didn't know where to look, or where to touch. She was so beautiful. "I've never..." he started to say, then his voice caught. He wasn't sure he could continue.

But she'd already known, or at least, she had suspected. "Then I feel very privileged, and very special," Gail said to him.

"I'm the one who's privileged," Cas said. He put his arms around her again, touching her bare skin, and he gasped. He couldn't believe how soft she was. He touched her breasts lightly again.

"I think that if we're going to go to bed together, we actually have to be ON the bed, at some point," Gail quipped.

Cas looked at her for a moment, and then he got it. She was nervous, too, and she was using  humour as a way of coping with it. He was also fairly certain that she was reminding him that as the man, he was supposed to take the lead in this situation. It didn't matter that he didn't really know what he was doing. He loved her, and they would figure it out together.

So he scooped her up in his arms and laid her on the bed, and then he was on top of her. He unhooked her bra  neatly and unbuttoned his shirt. Then he removed both items of clothing and dropped them on the floor. He leaned down to kiss her, enjoying the sensation of both their tongues and their bare skin coming together. She was caressing his back, and when he raised himself up to look at her, her hand grazed the front of his pants and he breathed in, sharply.

He needed to ask her one more time. "Are you sure, Gail? Please, I need to hear you say it."

"Yes, I'm sure," she replied. "I love you."

And that was all he needed to hear. He undid his pants and took them off, then took off her underpants, and then they were completely naked, and then he was inside her. He made love to her, telling her how much he loved her, and that he would always love her.

It was over in a matter of minutes, and Cas was so happy he felt like crying. She had clung to him and whispered endearments into his ear, but he knew he had been way too quick, and she hadn't felt it the way that he had. He knew she hadn't. But he also knew that this wasn't all there was to the act of love; it had only been a wonderful appetizer.

At that point, Gail had been prepared to call it a night. When Cas had made his halting confession, or had started to, she had pretty much already known that this would be his very first time.  So she had expected it to be over fairly soon. She had heard that men were pretty quick if they hadn't done anything for a few weeks, let alone a few thousand millennia, or however long it had been since Creation. And since this was all new to her too, she really hadn't known exactly what to expect. But it had all felt great, and Cas had been very loving and romantic. And if she hadn't felt the thing that the romance novels talked about, well, it wasn't the end of the world. This had only been their first time together. They'd had to get acquainted with  each others' minds and personalities at first, hadn't they? Well then, it only stood to reason that they would have to get accustomed to each other's bodies as well, didn't it?

So she was surprised when Cas began to move down her body, kissing her tenderly. By the time he got to her stomach, she was trembling, and by the time he got to her thighs, she was extremely excited. He had opened her legs and he kissed her there, then he tentatively gave her a lick, and her body jumped. He stopped, looking up at her.

"Do you want me to continue?" he said, but he'd been totally innocent when he'd asked her that, genuinely concerned.

"If you don't, I may have to leave you," she quipped. He saw that she was smiling, so he bent his head down and began to lick her slowly. Her body jumped again, and his hands found hers and held them as he continued. She squeezed his hands once to let him know that she was fine, and then she had to let go because she was crying out, and her hands flew to his head to stroke his hair, and then to make sure he didn't move an inch from where he was right now.

"Cas!" she cried. "Oh, my God! It's so good!" She couldn't believe it. This was the most incredible feeling in the world. The books didn't even come close to describing it. She continued to cry out as Cas continued to lick her. He would stay there for as long as she needed him. He was so happy that he had found something to do that she really seemed to like. It wouldn't have been fair for him to have been the only one to be so happy.

Then she was still, and she said, "Come here, Cas." He rose from her and lay down beside her. She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest, kissing him there as she tried to regain her breath. Then she looked at his face.

"That was...I don't even know how to describe it. Wow," she said to him, smiling.

He answered her smile. "I know. That's how I feel, too," he said. He kissed her forehead softly and tightened his arms around her, bringing her body closer to his. And then, because he knew she liked  humour , he said, "If I'd known it was this wonderful, I would have suggested it the first night you and I moved in together."

Gail laughed. "I kind of wish you had," she responded in kind. But they were both joking, of course. There was no way Cas would have done that. One of the many things she loved about him was that he was an old-school gentleman. He still stood every time she came in the room, and he still pulled out her chair for her before seating himself. Dean teased him about it, but he still did it. She made eye contact with him and gave him a little smile every time he did that, to show her appreciation. Gail may have been a big believer in equality for women, but she also believed in the little courtesies that a man could extend to a woman to show that he cared about her. Whether that was hypocritical, or a contradiction at least, was for others to decide. But it was how she felt. Cas was the perfect man in that regard. He was the perfect man for her in lots of ways.

When Gail had first met  Castiel , she had first and foremost been concerned for his well-being. Then, when the miracle occurred and she was able to make him well, Gail had seen what kind of Angel he really was, and what kind of man he was, and she had fallen in love with him without even realizing it. By the time she had become an Angel herself, she knew that he felt the same way about her. But he had been nothing but gentlemanly towards her the whole time. He held her  hand and had occasionally given her a quick kiss on the lips, but that had been it. Gail didn't know, of course, that hand-holding was considered a very intimate gesture by Angels' standards. By taking her hand so casually,  Castiel was signifying to her that he considered her his mate. But Gail had been a human girl up until just recently, and she knew that men frequently sought a much different kind of intimacy. The kind that involved the both of you in bed together, with no clothes on. And she would be lying if she said she hadn't thought about it, more than a few times. When they had progressed to cuddling on the same bed when they were watching TV, Gail had often thought that he might make some kind of a move. But he hadn't, so she had pretty much resigned herself to the fact that these things obviously worked differently for Angels. Well, she loved him anyway, and she loved being with him, so if that was the way that things had to be, she could go with that.

But then he had suggested this trip, saying that he wanted to take her away on a vacation. That sounded good to her. They had had a lot of drama in the lives recently, and she had to admit that the idea of two Angels in Las Vegas was amusing. She wondered, though. It would be just the two of them, and Cas had even bought new clothes for the occasion. He might be thinking in terms of a romantic getaway.  So she had gone shopping on her own and bought the blue dress, thinking of the  colour of his eyes, and hoping she might have the chance to wear it while they were there.

When they'd gotten there and gone down to the bar to have a drink, Gail had started to feel nervous. This felt different to her. And he'd seemed nervous, as well.  So they'd had another drink, and then they'd gone to dinner. Cas had asked Bobby for the gift before they'd left, and she had been grateful for it. Gail had enjoyed eating, and sometimes there was nothing more glorious than a good night's sleep. She had been getting used to doing without both, but it was a nice treat to be able to do them again on a holiday. She and Cas had talked easily over dinner, as they always did, and she had been feeling less nervous. But then when the meal was at an end, she had begun to feel self-conscious again. He had hardly taken his eyes off her the whole time. What now?  So they had gone for a walk up and down the Strip, hand in hand,  marveling at all the lights, and it had been very romantic.

After a while, they had looked at each other and agreed that they would go back to their room, and once they had gotten there, Gail could feel  Castiel's nervousness coming off him in waves. Now she knew for sure that he was hoping for a physical relationship. But he clearly didn't know how to go about suggesting one, and neither did she.  So she had gotten them both a drink and they had sat down on the couch and had their conversation. He had been so cute and so loving in his shyness that Gail really wanted to be intimate with him at that moment.  So she had given him the go-ahead, and then they had proceeded. She had felt very shy when he was undressing her. No man had ever seen her naked before. Luckily, Cas's stammering confession that he had never done this before had actually put her more at ease. At least she wouldn't suffer by comparison.

She had thought it might be a little awkward, or maybe more than a little, seeing as neither of them really knew what they were doing. But the moment that they were kissing, and he was inside of her, all of her nervousness had melted away. He was being so loving, and their bodies felt so right together, like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that were a perfect fit. Then it was over, all too soon, but she had understood. She knew that couldn't be all there was to it, at least from the woman's point of view, but she had felt confident that they would discover it together in the future, now that the ice had been broken.

But he surprised her by doing what he'd done, and she was very glad that he'd done it. Now she knew what making love really felt like, and as they lay there together laughing afterwards, she knew what real intimacy with the person you loved was like, as well.

They had fallen asleep shortly after, and at some  point in the night, she had rolled over in her sleep. Cas had woken momentarily when she'd moved, hoping she was all right. But when she'd settled down again immediately, he had put his arm back around her and cuddled her once more.

They had woken up that way in the morning, and he had felt so excited to be with her this way that he had been bold enough to do what he'd done. But she had told him that she liked it, and that it had felt good. Boy, did it ever. He couldn't believe it. He knew enough by now to know that there were a lot of different ways that couples could make love with one another, and he saw no reason why he and Gail could not try a little variety, as long as she was happy with what they were doing.

But as wonderful as that had made him feel, he had known that it wasn't good enough for her.  So he had done the same thing to her this morning that he had done last night, and she had rewarded him with the same reaction. Then when he was laying on top of her afterwards, he had become excited yet again. Already? Was this usual? If he could find the right words, maybe he would ask Dean about that when he and Gail got back home.

For right now, though, he didn't know what to do about the state he was in. He had just made love to Gail, and she was still catching her breath. Perhaps she needed a rest. They should probably get up and start their day, anyway. If he ignored the way he was feeling, it would probably recede. He was long used to suppressing his feelings. Showing emotions, or even having them, was discouraged in Heaven. Many Angels thought that he was aloof, but that was the facade he'd had to show everyone just to try to fit in there. No one ever laughed out  loud or cried when they were sad. No one ever turned to another and said "I love you " or would ever kiss the one they loved as he and Gail were doing now. He felt sorry for them.

Gail had noticed that he was excited again, of course. And he had made her feel so wonderful that she wanted to return the  favour . She had never done what she was now thinking about doing before, but she wanted to try it.

"Cas, can you lay down for a minute?" she asked him.

Oh. Of course. She probably wanted him to get off of her, give her a chance to breathe. He was getting carried away. Dean had warned him not to do that.  So he rolled off of her immediately, and lay on his back next to her.

"I'm sorry, Gail," he said, sighing. "I just feel...so..." What did he want to say, here? That he never wanted to let go of her again? That was true, but he didn't want her to feel smothered, or overwhelmed by his declarations of love for her, so he'd better not say it. This was just new to her too, and he didn't want to push her.

As Cas was trying to figure out what to say to her instead, Gail was moving her body down the bed. What was she doing? Then he saw what she was doing. He felt her take him in her mouth, and he gasped loudly. Was this the equivalent of what he had just been doing to her? No wonder she had made those kinds of sounds. But he didn't know if he could let her do this. It felt almost too good. She was moving up and down, and he was moving with her, almost involuntarily. A loud moan escaped him, and he reached out for her, almost as if he wanted to stop her.

"No, Gail," he said softly.

She eased up for a moment. Gail was pretty sure he didn't really mean it; based on what she had heard from him and what she had experienced herself when he'd done it to her, it was more likely that it felt so good to him that he was almost scared of it, as she had been.

"Does it feel good, Cas?" she asked him.

"Yes, but..." he started to say.

That was all she'd needed to hear. "Then please, just let me do this for you." She was licking him now, and he whimpered, just as she had done.

"It's too much, Gail," he said.

"I know," she said, smiling. "Isn't it wonderful?" Then she said, " Shhh . Close your eyes."

So he did, and she resumed. He felt a surge of love for her that was so powerful that he was afraid of it. Was this what she had felt? No, it couldn't be. He felt like he was going to explode. "I love you," he said. She didn't respond right away, just kept on doing what she was doing for a moment or two. He was moving underneath her again, moaning, but she didn't want to leave him hanging like that. She sensed that it was important for him to hear it back.  So she stopped, and said, "I love you too, Cas. Now just  relax and let go. Please. Let it go, Cas. Feel what you feel."

Then she resumed again, and he gave up and surrendered himself completely to the feeling. He started to cry out, and as the wave of pleasure hit him and he felt the warm rush, Cas started to laugh and cry at the same time.

Gail continued to make love to him until he was still, and then for a moment more. She'd heard his reaction, and she wanted to give him a minute to regroup. She knew that it was more difficult for men to express extreme emotions like he had done, and she hoped he wasn't self-conscious about it. But then she needed to be with him again, and to look at his face, so she moved back up to lay beside him. There were tears on his face, but he was smiling.

She kissed him softly on the cheek, and he said, "I never could have imagined anything like that. And I never could have imagined how much one person could love another person. Or Angel, as in our case."

Gail smiled. "I know, right? I've read books and I've seen movies, but it always seemed like it was too good to be true. Or, that it would never happen to someone ordinary like me."

He touched her face. "There's nothing ordinary about you, Gail. Nothing. You're special, and you're wonderful. You're perfect."

"Oh, now don't go calling me that," she said lightly. "That's way too much pressure. And besides, it's not true. Wait till the next time we have an argument. You won't think so, then."

"Yes, I will," he insisted. "And, we will never have an argument. Because you will always be right."

Her smile widened. "Now, I know Dean didn't tell you to say THAT. But, in any event, could I get that in writing?"

They laughed together, and then she said, "Well, as wonderful a way to wake up as this has been, I think I'll hop in the shower. I want breakfast, and several cups of coffee. We can only eat and drink this weekend, whereas this..." she gestured to the two of them. "This, we can do anytime. And I plan on doing it a lot."

Cas was still smiling. She was unbelievable. "I love you," he told her.

"I love you too, Cas," she replied. She leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips, then she got off the bed and padded over to the washroom. She stopped at the doorway, looking back at him. "I'm so glad you brought us here," she said. Then she entered the bathroom and closed the door.

Cas lay there for a moment, continuing to smile. He had never been happier. It had taken untold millennia, but he finally had his mate. He closed his eyes, thanking his Father profusely. Now he was finally complete.

They went down to the restaurant, and Cas pulled Gail's chair out for her to sit in, as usual. But then he hesitated. He really wanted to sit beside her. He felt so close to her now that he didn't even want a table separating them. But as he looked around, he saw that no other couple was seated like that; they were all sitting across from each other.  So he walked around the table and sat opposite her, but he took both of her hands in his across the table.

When the server came, she said, " Awww , you're holding hands. Are you here on your honeymoon?"

Cas looked at her, smiling, and then he looked at Gail. "In a manner of speaking, yes," he said.

"How long have you been together?" the girl asked.

"About two years," Cas replied.

"Well, come back and see me in a year or two," the server said. "I doubt you'll be holding hands then."

"We might just do that," Gail retorted. "And I can guarantee you we'll be holding hands then, too."

Cas was still looking at Gail, and his heart swelled at what she'd said. They definitely would be. There was no way he was ever letting go of her hand again.

They ordered coffee, and when the server brought it, Cas poured the cream into Gail's cup first, and stirred it with the spoon. "That's how you like it, right?" he asked her.

She smiled at him. What a sweet and quirky thing to do. That was indeed how she took her coffee. He obviously remembered, and that was one of those little gestures, like pulling out her chair for her, that endeared him to her.

They ate breakfast, and every time the server came by with a refill, Cas did the same thing. Gail was fairly amused by now, but she let him do it. It seemed to make him happy.

"What do you want to do today?" he asked her.

Gail thought about it. She didn't really know. "Let's just go for a walk and see where it takes us," she said.

So they walked around for a while, and then Gail suggested they play a bit of blackjack. They sat side by side and played the game. Gail had originally taught Cas how to play cards, to help while away some time when their human friends were sleeping. Blackjack was a fairly simple game, and Cas grasped the strategy immediately. Soon he was up several hundred dollars. But even though Gail also played the game correctly, she was quickly out of chips. He moved to give her a stack of his, but she smiled and said, "Never mind, Mr. Moneybags. Cards for money obviously isn't my thing." Then she smiled more widely and added, "Oh, well, unlucky at cards, lucky in love."

Cas smiled at that. It seemed he'd been lucky in both. He scooped up his chips and put them in his pocket, taking her hand.

They walked for a while longer, and the day was becoming quite warm. Gail saw an ice cream stand and said, "Let's get some."

Cas bought them ice cream cones and they sat on a bench near the fountain, eating their ice cream. The sun was melting Gail's ice cream faster than she could eat it, though, and soon it was dripping on the sidewalk. She had melted ice cream all over her hands and her mouth, and she'd even gotten some on her nose somehow.

"Look at me. You can't take me anywhere," she quipped, looking down at herself.

Cas took the napkins she'd been holding in her hand and wiped her face gently. He was grinning. God, she was cute. She got up and threw the rest of her cone in the garbage can, then she came back to sit on the bench.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "I guess I should've eaten it faster."

He wiped her hands, and then he kissed her nose, licking off the dab of ice cream that was there. She had never felt anything as sweet and as sexy as that in her entire life. "I think you should eat ice cream every day, just so I have an excuse to do that," he said, smiling. Yikes. Impulsively, she threw her arms around him and kissed him. He kissed her back, and she could taste the vanilla ice cream he'd had, mixed with the chocolate on her tongue.

"Now THAT'S the way to enjoy ice cream," she quipped. They kissed for another couple of minutes, then they got up and started to walk again.

By then it was afternoon, and as they passed by the hotel where the Secret Garden was, Gail said, "Oh, I've heard about this place. When I found out we were coming here, I Googled things to do here, and I saw this. I think we might really like it."

So they walked to the entrance, but there was a placard that read, "Closed Until Further Notice". Gail was disappointed. "That's too bad," she said. "'Till further notice'. That's weird." She shrugged. "Maybe they're renovating, or something. Oh, well. We'll have to come back, when and if we come here again."

They walked away. Cas squeezed her hand gently. Now he was disappointed, too. If Gail thought they would have liked the place, he was sure they would have. He hated to see her disappointed.

Lucifer grinned. She wouldn't just be disappointed, she would be devastated if she knew the real reason the place was closed. Last night while the Angels slept, he had popped into the Secret Garden and waved his hands at the cages, killing all the animals there. Hey, he'd promised his flock some dead animals, hadn't he? He hadn't wanted to start Armageddon on a larger scale until Gail was in the fold, but he'd wanted to send out a little message of his own, nonetheless.

So he watched as the Angels turned away from the entrance to the Secret Garden and Hermann sat inside it on their bench, weeping uncontrollably. When the co-creator of the haven had arrived this morning before the place opened to the public, he had discovered all of the cats lying dead in their cages. And neither the veterinarian he had called nor the police could tell him why. Maybe it was time for him to leave Las Vegas. Things were getting worse all the time. Maybe it was time to wash his hands of civilization and retreat into the wild with his cats.

It was early evening now, and Gail was getting hungry again. She and Cas went for dinner, and then she played a slot machine while he sat beside her and watched her play. She would clap when she got the free spin bonus, and she would do what she called a "victory dance" in her chair if the bonus was a good one. She was the cutest person he had ever seen.

"Would you mind getting me a drink?" Gail asked him, putting her hand on his arm. "You're still rich from this morning, right?"

Cas jumped off his chair and went to the bar to get Gail her drink. He considered having one too, but he remembered again what Dean had said about that. Their time was growing short, and he wanted to make the most of the remainder of it.  So he abstained. But he brought her drink back to her and continued to watch her as she played.

Eventually, her money was gone, and she sighed. "I guess I'm not much of a gambler," she told him. "It was fun while it lasted, though. Let's go for another walk. I want to look at the lights again."

He took her hand and they went outside. It was full dark now, and the lights were spectacular. They walked and walked, talking and laughing.

Cas stopped walking at one point, and he turned to her. "This has been a perfect day," he said to Gail.

"Really?" she said. "We didn't really do that much. We didn't even get to go to the Secret Garden."

"I don't care," he said lightly. "It was perfect because I got to spend it with you."

She smiled. "You're too sweet to be true. But I'm glad you are who you are, Cas. Don't ever change." As they smiled at each other, she added, "But you're also incorrect. It's not the perfect day, yet. Let's go back to our room." She took his hand and they started to walk back to the hotel.

Once they were upstairs in the room, she came to him immediately, and he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, using his tongue. Then they undressed each other and got in the bed.

Cas was a lot less shy this time, Gail noted, and she was glad of that. She liked him taking the lead. He pulled her on top of him and she guided him into her. He liked this, because he could look at her face and caress her all over. They moved together for a while, and then he said, "Do you want to try something?"

"Sure," she said.

"Come here." He gestured to her, and she rose from him, coming up to where he lay. "Let's turn you around," he said, taking her by the hips. She let him flip her gently around until she was positioned over his mouth.

"It felt so good for the both of us that I thought we could try doing it at the same time, together," he said. "Do you mind?"

No, she didn't mind. In fact, she thought that was a fantastic idea. That way, they could make each other happy at exactly the same time.  So she lowered her mouth to him as he began to lick her, and in a matter of minutes, they were both crying out together. This was even better, as far as Cas was concerned. He'd felt a little guilty when she had done this just for him. Her happiness was his priority. But he loved it when they were happy together, like this. It was the most intimate they had ever been.

When they were both still, she climbed off of him and nestled herself in his arms. "NOW it's been the most perfect day," she said, smiling up at him.

"As I said before, you are always right," Cas said softly, answering her smile. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her on the forehead, the cheek, the lips...he couldn't get enough of kissing  her and holding her this way.

Gail loved it too, and she lay there, warm and contented, as he continued to kiss her softly. She had never felt so loved and so safe in her entire life. "I love you, Cas," she told him, and he said, "I love you, Gail. And I can't wait for tomorrow, and then the next day, and then the day after that. We have an eternity of tomorrows ahead of us, and we'll never be apart again."

Then Gail yawned. "Sorry, Cas. I guess I didn't get enough sleep last night, after all. I think you wore me out," she teased. "I'm going to go to sleep now, okay?"

But suddenly, he didn't want her to go to sleep. Was it because he didn't want their perfect day to end? Yes, partially; but it still felt like there was more to it than that. For some reason, Cas didn't want tomorrow morning to come, now. He felt a strange sense of foreboding. If she went to sleep, something would happen. But how could anything happen to her? She was here with him, safe and warm in bed. He was being ridiculous, and he was being selfish. Just because he wanted her to remain awake, loving him and talking to him, that didn't mean that she should do so, just to please him. They would have untold nights in the future to stay up all night together. He knew how much she enjoyed sleeping when she had the gift, and they only had this weekend for her to be able to do that. He would hold her all night while she slept, and nothing would happen to her.

So he kissed her tenderly and continued to hold her as she fell asleep. Cas stayed awake for a while longer, and then sleep claimed him, too.

She woke in the morning, and she began to stretch her body. That had been a really good night's sleep. But, wait a minute: she could feel an arm around her, and a body behind her.

Oh, right. She remembered now. She had met him on the plane, and they'd had a drink together. He was a very handsome guy, with striking blue eyes. They'd talked, and laughed, and by the time they'd gotten to Vegas, they'd agreed to share a cab that had taken them to the Strip. Then they'd had a couple more drinks together, then dinner. She had brought her travel bag with her to the bar, and then to the restaurant. She didn't have a hotel reservation. Her boss had told her that she should take a few days off and fly to Vegas; she worked hard, and she should play hard, too. She had never been, so she had taken his suggestion. But since coming here had been an impulse, she hadn't booked a room ahead of time; she'd just been planning to wing it when she got here.

Cas had suggested that she throw her bag in his room while they went out on the town, and she had agreed. So, as far as she could remember, they'd had a few drinks, then a few more, and he'd been funny and charming. Then they'd come back to his room late, and one thing had led to another, and then she'd woken up next to him yesterday morning. Then he was touching her, and then he was in her, and she had to admit that had been one hell of an eye-opener for first thing in the morning.

Then he'd suggested that she just stay with him in his room for the weekend, and she had agreed to that, too. What the hell. What happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas, right? Though she might just have to talk a bit about this when she got home. Cas was very good-looking, and he was very good in bed. He seemed like a really good guy, too.  So they'd spent all day together the next day, and then they had wound up naked in bed again, and now, she was waking up on the last day of her holiday. Already. She should have asked her boss for a few more days off, she thought with a rueful smile. She'd had a great time with Cas, but it was time to get back to reality. Her boss was mostly a good-natured guy, and he had a wicked sense of  humour sometimes, but he had told her she needed to be back at the office tonight, and he had been serious about it.

As soon as she began to stretch, Cas's arms tightened around her. "Good morning," he said softly into her ear. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I did," she answered. "You?"

" Of course I did," he responded. "I got to hold you all night."

Now she was remembering something else about him. Cas was very sweet, but he was also very clingy. He seemed to feel the need to be touching her all the time. And while it had been just what the doctor ordered this weekend, she was starting to feel a little suffocated. Oh well, she was flying home today. She supposed she could take it a bit longer.

She rolled over to look at him. She wanted to remember his face, and that body, so she would have a visual image to remember when the nights got lonely again.

He was smiling, and he kissed her immediately, using his tongue. Funny; he didn't have morning breath. She was sure she must, though. But he didn't seem to mind. His tongue was in her mouth, looking for hers, so she gave up and gave it to him. He sighed contentedly.

His arms tightened around her, and then he started to caress her body. She was about to tell him that she'd better shower and start packing, but then his hand was between her legs. Okay, she could wait a half-hour or so. This would be the one to go on.  So she started to stroke him lightly, and she opened her legs for him.

After a few minutes of that, Cas climbed on top of her and entered her. He moved slowly in and out of her, and he continued to stroke her at the same time. It felt amazing. The guy sure knew what he was doing. He probably did this sort of thing all the time. A guy this good-looking and this charming must have been with a lot of women. But this weekend had been all about her. She had to hand it to Cas. When you were with him, he made you feel like you were the most special person in the world. He hadn't left her side all weekend, and he had seemed happy to do whatever she'd wanted to do.

After a while, he sped up, and then he leaned down and kissed her as he finished. Then he moved down her body and kissed her in the same place where he'd just been, and then she was crying out. Oh, he was good, all right. He'd known just where to go on her body this weekend to give her the most pleasure, and even when they had been out of bed, he had treated her like a princess. Maybe she would leave her number on the table before she left. She didn't want to put any pressure on him or make him think she had any expectations, but maybe she could see him again sometime. A guy this good shouldn't go to waste. But he would probably want to move on to another woman next. She knew how the world worked. Guys liked variety. Or, maybe there was something wrong with him. Guys like this didn't grow on trees, but if he wasn't already in a relationship, there had to be a reason for it. So maybe she should just leave this as a wonderful, very hot memory.

When he'd made sure she was fully satisfied, Cas laid on top of her again and licked her lips with his tongue. God, he was sexy. What she wouldn't give to just stay here with him all morning. But she was starting to feel the urgency now. What time was it? She wanted to get some breakfast, and then she had to get out of Dodge. At least, thanks to Cas's largesse, she wouldn't have to line up to check out.

His tongue was in her mouth again, and she gave him hers,  savouring the feeling. He was caressing her again, touching her breasts, and she reflexively wrapped her legs around him. Now why had she gone and done that? She had to go. He was licking her breast now, and she was getting excited again. She could feel that he was, too. This was crazy.

"I love you, Gail," he said, kissing her with his tongue again.

Her eyes had been closed, and she had been considering skipping breakfast so she could feel him inside her just one more time. But when he said that, her eyes flew open. Wait, what? Crap. She should have known. She knew he was too good to be true. What did he mean, he loved her? They had just met! And even if he'd thought she needed to hear that, considering what they were doing right now, she definitely didn't. Some women needed the man to say that in this kind of context, she knew. But she had no such illusions. This was merely what it was; a very sexy hookup that had stretched into a weekend. They'd had a lot of fun together, both in bed and out, but it was over now. And besides, he had called her by some other woman's name. She just hoped he wasn't married. That would really suck.

But she didn't want her last memory of him to be a fight, so she put her hands on his chest and gave him a gentle push.

"Cas, can I get some air, please?" she asked him.

Cas felt bad. He'd been overdoing it again. He just loved her so much. They had just made love, and it had been wonderful, but she obviously needed a break. He had to stop being so aggressive. He didn't mean to be; he just couldn't seem to help it. But as fantastic as this had been, he had to calm down. They were eternal beings, and Gail had already told him that there would be many more times like this. He knew he had made her very happy, but he needed to give her what she needed now, too. She was telling him that she wanted him to cease, and he needed to respect that.

He rolled off of her immediately, but he took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it softly. "I'm sorry," he said to her. "I just love you so much. Are you hungry? You probably are. Let's go to breakfast, and then you can tell me what you want to do today, okay? Please don't be angry with me, Gail."

She stared at him. Double crap. Now she knew what was wrong with him. There were two things, actually. He was one of THOSE guys. The ones who attached themselves to you like a barnacle on a boat, and then wouldn't let go. But how could a man who was this good-looking and this charming be one of those guys? There was only one answer for that: he was also nuts. He had to be. He was talking like they were a couple, and like she was going to spend the rest of the day with him. Maybe the rest of her life, even. She had told him on the plane that she was due back today. And he had called her by that other woman's name again. Well, he could just go back to this Gail, whoever she was. Sarah was done here.

But she had to be careful, just in case Cas really was a psycho. She'd seen movies like this.  So she smiled. "I'm not mad, Cas. Why don't you go ahead and get in the shower? Then we'll go to breakfast," she said to him.

Cas smiled with relief. She wasn't angry. She probably just wanted to rest for a few more minutes. He kissed her once more, and then he rose from the bed and went to the bathroom for his shower.

Gail let him kiss her, and then as soon as she heard the water running, she got off the bed. She dressed hurriedly and glanced around the room. The clothes she'd had on the night before, the ones he'd taken off her, were strewn around on the floor. She scooped them up and threw them in her bag, zipping it up. She glanced at the bathroom door. She hated to do it this way, but she'd better not take any chances. And now she would be able to have warm fantasies about him whenever she needed them. If she stayed any longer, things would get weird.

"Goodbye, Cas," she said softly, blowing a kiss at the closed bathroom door.

Then she went downstairs and hailed a cab.

Cas came out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel. "I saved you some hot water," he said. Silence. He'd been trying to sound lighthearted. He realized he'd been very pushy a few minutes ago. She was always so quick and so witty with her quips. Perhaps he would ask Dean about that too, receive some help developing a better sense of  humour . He loved to hear her laugh.

He looked over at the bed. "I'm hungry, too. Maybe we can - " He cut his sentence short. She wasn't in the bed.

Cas was puzzled. Their room was just that; a room. He looked around. She was nowhere to be seen, and there was nowhere else she could be. Had she gone out into the hallway, for some reason? No, that was ridiculous; she had been naked. Had she thrown some clothes on and gone downstairs, perhaps to get some coffee? Perhaps she hadn't wanted to wait till breakfast; he knew how much she loved her coffee when she was able to drink it, especially first thing in the morning. He hadn't thought his shower was that long, but maybe it had been. He should have gone downstairs and gotten her some coffee before he'd gotten in the shower. If she'd asked him to, he would have done it, gladly. Wasn't it the man's job to anticipate the woman's needs? Maybe she was disappointed in him for not having done  it, and had gone to get her own. He would have to apologize to her when she got back.

But when he bent to his suitcase to get fresh clothes, he noticed that her bag was gone. Now Cas was really confused. Why would she have taken her bag with her? She didn't keep money in there, and she could have just gone into his wallet to get some money. It was laying right there on the table.

Now he remembered the sense of foreboding that he had felt last night. Something was wrong here. He closed his eyes and concentrated. He could see her now. She was getting into a cab downstairs, and she had her bag with her. What on earth was she doing? He heard her tell the driver that she wanted to go to the airport.

Cas was astounded. Why was she doing that? He was at a total loss now. Had he done something wrong? They weren't due to return home until tomorrow. He rushed to check his blazer, which was draped over the desk chair. Both of their return tickets were still tucked safely away in the inside pocket, where he usually kept his blade. He hadn't brought that here, of course. A romantic vacation did not require a blade; he had left it back at the bunker with Sam and Dean. So, she was headed to the airport, but she did not have her ticket. What was going on?

Sarah was digging around in her bag in the back of the cab, looking for her plane ticket. She started to panic. Where was it? She dug some more, shifting her clothes around. Dammit! It wasn't here! She went into the inside pocket of her bag. She came up with some money, but no ticket. Had she left it in Cas's room? No, it couldn't be there. Why would it be there? He hadn't taken it, had he? How crazy was this guy? Well, there was no way she was going back there now. They did everything by computer these days; she would just go to the airline desk and get them to print up another one.

She paid the driver and got out of the cab, then she walked into the airport and lined up at the courtesy desk for the airline.

Cas threw some clothes on and hurried downstairs. He got into a cab and asked the driver to take him to the airport. When they got there, he threw a bill into the front seat and ran inside the terminal.

He looked from right to left. There were people milling all around. Then he saw Gail. She was walking towards the Departures with her bag in one hand and a piece of paper in the other. He ran over to her.

"Gail! Wait!" he exclaimed.

Crap. She turned around to face him.

"Cas, what are you doing?" she said sadly.

"What am I doing?" he said, puzzled. "What are YOU doing?"

She sighed. "I'm going home, Cas. I told you I had to go home today."

When had she told him that? And what did she mean? They weren't due to go home until tomorrow. Was she homesick? Did she miss Sam and Dean? Cas shook his head, as if to clear it. She was acting so strange. What had he done wrong?

"If you want to go home now, just give me a moment. I'll pop back to the hotel and check out, then I'll switch our tickets. Come on," he said to her, reaching out for her hand.

She moved her hand away. He really WAS nuts. Did he think he was coming with her? What had she gotten herself into, here?

"Look, Cas, you're a really great guy, but the weekend is over now," she told him. "I've got to get back home. Thanks for everything, though. I had a really nice time. Take care of yourself." She was trying to placate him now. He looked so upset. People were starting to look at them, and she didn't want to have to create a big scene. But she had to go. Her plane was due to take off shortly.

She started to turn away again, but he grabbed her arm.

Cas was frantic now. What was wrong with her? He reached out with his free hand. He needed to touch her forehead, to find out what was going on with her mind. Had she been interfered with somehow? But, how could that be? He had been with her all night, holding her.

She shrank back from his hand. "I don't know what you think you're doing, but you need to let go of me, Cas," she said sharply. She was scared, but she was also getting a little mad now, too. Who the hell did this guy think he was? They'd spent a couple of great days together, but now he seemed to think he owned her, or something.

"Gail, talk to me, please," he was pleading. "Whatever is wrong, we can work it out, together. Come with me. We'll sit down, and we'll talk. If I've made you angry in some way, we can talk about that. Please."

She wrenched her arm out of his grasp. "Look, I don't know who this Gail person is you keep talking about, but it's not me!" she said, raising her voice. "You know that's not my name!"

His brow furrowed. What? Had she suffered some sort of breakdown? Now she didn't even know her own name?

"What's the trouble here?"

Two security guards, clad in black and with guns on their hips, approached them, standing on either side of Cas. They had seen him grab her, and her pull away from him.

"Do you need some help, ma'am?" one of them asked her.

Sarah frowned. "I just need to make my flight," she said. She didn't want Cas to get arrested, she just wanted him to leave her alone.

Cas didn't want any trouble, either. But he couldn't let her just walk away from him, not without finding out what was wrong with her.  So he reached out for her again, but one of the officers grabbed his arm.

"I think the lady wants to go," he said to Cas.

Sarah looked at Cas sadly once more, then she turned and walked away. She hoped he would be all right, but she was out of there. It was his own fault if he got arrested now. Why hadn't he just let her go?

Cas made a move to go after her, but the other officer grabbed his other arm, and they were both restraining him now. "Gail!" he called after her. "Come back! Please!"

But she was still walking away, and soon he lost sight of her in the crowd.

"Look, buddy, I don't know what's going on between the two of you, but you need to leave it," one of the officers said to him.

"She's my girlfriend," Cas explained. "We came here together, and now she's leaving, and I don't know why!" Perhaps if he could get them to understand, they would let go of him, and let him go after her.

"Well, she's clearly upset with you for some reason," the officer said. "But you can't just go grabbing her like that. Let her cool off. And you need to cool off, too."

"But she's leaving!" Cas shouted. He began to struggle, and the officer said, "Okay, that's it, buddy. You're done."

The officers turned Cas around and propelled him to a sliding door that led outside the airport. "Go outside and cool off," the officer said to him. "Let her go. If we see you here again, we're  gonna have to bust you."

Cas looked at him, and he looked so upset that the officer felt sorry for him. But he couldn't have the guy going nuts in the middle of the terminal, either. The officer sighed.

"Give it a little time," he said to Cas. "Maybe call her in a bit. When my wife gets mad, there's no reasoning with her when she's like that. Let her cool off for a while. But I'd watch how you act, if I were you. Women don't take too kindly to being manhandled. Now, go outside and calm down. Or, better still, go back to your hotel."

They took Cas outside, and left him there. But they stayed just inside the door, watching him.

Cas was crazy now. He had to do something, before she got on a plane and got away. But, what? He couldn't just pop back into the airport; there were way too many people around.

There was nothing he could do at the moment. He had no choice. He would have to go home by  himself and wait for her there. Once she got back, he could talk to her and find out what was wrong. If she wanted him to, he would fall on his knees and beg her forgiveness for whatever it was that he had done to make her so upset. They could work it out, together.

He walked around the perimeter of the airport until he found a spot where he could disappear without being seen. He reappeared back in their room, where he grabbed his suitcase and the room key. He looked at the bed. They had been so happy there just a short time ago, and now she was gone.

Lucifer was laughing. What a show that had been. This was the best idea he'd ever had. When he'd put his hands on their heads at the bunker, he had planted the new memories in Gail's head, set to trigger this morning after she woke up. So now she was Sarah, and she was going home. But not to Kansas, of course. Poor  Castiel . He was so upset.  So confused. Understandable. But, funny as hell.

Lucifer had had Mark go online and purchase a ticket for her under her new name, and luckily, she'd had the presence of mind to go to the desk and have it printed out. He'd known Gail was an intelligent girl. And he'd known that  Castiel would follow her to the airport, of course. But that scene with the security guards had been a hilarious bonus. Poor Cas, being hustled out of the place like that. The look of sheer bewilderment on his face. Lucifer had nearly peed his pants. It was just too funny.

Sarah flew home and took a cab to her apartment. She threw her bag on the bed. She would take the clothes out later and do a laundry. But right now, she needed to take a shower, and then she needed to get to the office. The boss was the boss, and he had wanted her to be there tonight, for some reason. You'd think he would have let her get a night's rest after her trip. But he was capricious. He'd urged her to go on this wild weekend and let her hair down, but then he'd told her that she had to be back tonight, or she was fired. Sarah sighed. Bosses.

She thought about her weekend as she showered. Despite this morning's weirdness, all in all, it had been a very good one. Too bad Cas had turned out to be such a weirdo, though. Funny, she'd had no clue. Usually, if a guy was that weird, you could tell it pretty quickly. But he had been charming and funny, and he had treated her as she'd always wanted to be treated. And, not to be shallow or anything, but he was gorgeous. When he'd looked at her on the plane with those beautiful blue eyes, she'd pretty much climbed into bed with him right there and then. She didn't regret anything she'd done this weekend, she only regretted that it had ended the way it had. The fact that he had kept calling her by that other woman's name this morning was bugging her, though. What had that been all about? Did she remind him of someone, maybe some other woman that he had loved? Maybe that was it. Maybe he'd lost this other woman, and he had glommed onto her on the plane because she resembled that woman.

She stepped out of the shower, wiping the condensation off the mirror and looking at herself. That had to be it. She was okay-looking, but Cas was way out of her league. Her hair was blonde, but it was a bit too thin and pale in  colour , and her eyes were a pale green. Not striking, like his blue ones had been. She was short, and her body was OK, but she was nothing special. She had been lucky to have had a guy like him, even if it had been just for a weekend. She would have to try to forget about what happened this morning and just remember what a good time they'd had there together, and how good he had been to her, both in and out of bed. She did feel a little bit sorry for him. He had looked at her so sadly, and with such bewilderment. But if he wanted her to be this Gail woman for him, that was just too bad. She was Sarah, and she had to get back to work.

She looked at her In box and shook her head. She had only been gone since Friday, and there was a stack of mail there already. Had they been saving it up for her, or something?

She sighed and sat down, reaching for the first envelope. But her office door opened, and her boss came rushing in. Of course.

He came to her desk and pushed her phone aside. Then he half-sat on her desk in that spot, smiling down at her.

"So?" he asked her. "How was it? Did you drink? Did you gamble?" His smile widened. "Did you hook up?"

Sarah rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, too. "I thought that what happened in Vegas was supposed to stay in Vegas," she said to him.

"Not when you work for me," he teased her. "Come on, give."

She shrugged. She knew what Gordon was like by now. He wasn't going to give up until she told him what he wanted to know. But she'd known what she was signing on for when she had taken the job. He was the least reverent Reverend she had ever met. But they had an important job to do. People needed to be informed about Armageddon, and if his methods were unorthodox, well, at least he had peoples' attention, didn't he?

She smiled shyly at him. "All three," she admitted. Gordon gave her a whoop and a fist bump. "It really was a good weekend, Gordon," she continued. "Thanks for encouraging me to go."

"De nada," he said. Then he smiled again. "So, how was the guy?"

She looked at him. "I'm not sure exactly what you mean by that, but I'm not going to divulge any details. Suffice it to say that we had a very wonderful time together."

"You're such a prude, Sarah," he said, shaking his head. "Sex is a part of life. A terrific part. What good is feeling that good, if you can't even talk about it?"

"Well, maybe YOU can talk about it, but I'M not  gonna ," she retorted. "That wasn't in my job description."

He threw back his head and laughed. "Well, maybe I'll put it in there when you have your annual salary review. Maybe I'll only give you a raise if you give me one. If you know what I mean."

Sarah sighed. "I always know what you mean," she said to him. "But you're going to have to stop it now. That's enough, already."

Lucifer heard her. Like  Castiel , he hadn't really had any appreciable experience with women. And, like his Brother, he tended to be a little pushy sometimes. But he was who he was, and he would keep going, as long as she was willing to play along. But when she pushed back, he would cease. For now, anyway. If he was going to woo her properly, he couldn't have her getting so angry with him that she would just quit her job and leave. He wanted to seduce her. That would hurt  Castiel far more.

"Okay...Sarah," Lucifer said. Crap. He'd almost called her "Gail". He would have to watch that, and he would have to tell Mark and  Aurielle to be careful, as well. He had arranged for her hair and eye  colour to change as she was flying back to L.A., but she still had basically the same face, and the same body. He'd wanted her to look nearly the same so that when he finally had her, it would be Gail who he was with. He would likely change her hair and eye  colour back, right before that happened. What she had now didn't look quite right on her. But she'd needed to look a little different, too. In case one of the God Squad happened to see her, they would probably think she was just a lookalike. And if  Castiel found her before Lucifer was ready for him to, there would be nothing he could do about it. Gail would just think he was that crazy stalker from Las Vegas. Let  Castiel try to take her. She would put up a fight, kicking and screaming.

"I'm sorry, Sarah," Lucifer said to her. "I just like you, and I want you to be happy." He scooped up both of her hands in his. Now that he had the connection, Lucifer concentrated, placing the shield around her. Now  Castiel wouldn't be able to see her, no matter how hard he looked. When the time was right, Lucifer would let him. But not yet.

Sarah was surprised. He'd never been demonstrative with her like this before. Now she wondered if maybe Gordon had a crush on her. He was tall and nice looking enough, but he had been very upfront with everyone about the fact that he was a virgin. He'd even talked about it on TV. Maybe he was shy with women. Maybe that was why he joked around about sex all the time; he could be overcompensating. But he was just holding her hands, and he was simply telling her he wanted her to be happy. Just because she'd had a hot, romantic weekend with a handsome stranger, that didn't mean she was God's gift, all of a sudden. She'd better get over herself.

"Thanks, 'Rev'," she said, using his nickname. She knew he liked to be called that, sometimes.

But he frowned unexpectedly. "I don't want you to call me that. I want you to call me by my name." Well, in a manner of speaking. "I want you to call me Gordon."

"Okay, Gordon," she said softly. "Okay. Sorry."

"Well, it looks like you have a lot of work to do, so I'll let you get to it. Come see me later. We'll talk some more," he said, rising from her desk.

"You're here at all hours. Don't you ever sleep?" she asked him with a half-smile.

"Nope," he said lightly. "Nobody to sleep with, I guess. It gets pretty lonely sometimes."

Now she was wondering again. But she let it go. She still couldn't tell if he was trying to suggest something or not. Gordon was hard to read at times. But he had always been a perfect gentleman with her. It wasn't as if he'd come on to her, or anything. But now she was the one who was thinking about sex. Maybe that was understandable, after the weekend she had just had. Before she went to sleep tonight, she would have to picture Cas, kissing her and moving in and out of her. Then she would have sweet dreams all night.

Lucifer went back to his office and sat behind his desk. He grinned. Now that he had everything set up the way he wanted, he could begin.

\- END OF BOOK 13. -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading my labour of love.
> 
> Please share some of your love by way of kudos and/or review.


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